On Thursday evening I had the pleasure of seeing "The Miracle Worker" performed by our fellow student body on campus. The play took place in the Keller home in 1880, where Helen Keller was taught by her teacher, Annie, how to sign. Helen Keller was born blind and deaf, which made her impatient and she often had fits of frustration. Annie was also blind but had nine surgeries to give her sight. Annie was then able to go out into the world and find work, and that is where she found Helen needed help. Although Helen had great difficulty functioning in her dysfunctional home, Annie too had some difficulties to overcome.
The play began with Hellen as an infant and that was when we first saw she was blind and deaf. The next scene then transitioned to when Hellen was a child. Hellen had many tantrums and would hit her mother if she didn't get her way. Her mother and family members couldn't handle her anymore and were desperate to communicate with Hellen and make her obedient. They found a teacher for the deaf and blind named Annie.
Annie was a pupil at a school for the blind and deaf because she was blind. She was able to go through multiple surgeries to fix her sight. Annie's eyes were still sensitive to the light since she recently had surgery, so she wears sunglasses. The Kellers wanted her to be a teacher to Hellen, but when Annie met Kate, Kate saw how young she was and found out this was Annie's first time teaching a student. Kate was a little nervous but still let Annie come help Helen. Annie had great confidence and strategic humor which was performed well by the actress.
When they got to the Keller house Annie finally met Helen and had Helen bring her suitcase upstairs. Annie taught Helen how to sign the word 'doll' when she handed her a doll, even though Helen didn't know what the word meant yet. Helen was played by a young actress who portrayed a blind girl very well. She kept her eyes slightly squinted and remarkably never looked at anyone on stage or in the audience.
As Annie began to see how difficult it was to work with Helen, she asked the Kellers if her and Helen could live in the garden house for two weeks so that Helen would become dependent on Annie and she would be able to learn better. Mr. and Mrs. Keller weren't very reluctant but wanted results, so they allowed it. Over the course of the two weeks Helen was able to learn obedience and learned many words in sign language, but still did not understand the words had meanings.
The first morning they are all back at the house, Helen tries to test her family and Annie by dropping her napkin on the floor. Annie makes Helen pick it up, but Kate tries to pick it up for her. Annie tells her to stop showing pity for Helen. Kate allows Annie to carry on with her methods. Annie and Helen go outside to fill up the water pitcher where Annie signs 'water' as they pump water into the pitcher. Helen says the word 'water' and finally comprehends the sign language and its correspondence to objects. The Keller family sees this great accomplishment and are forever grateful.
The cast of the play were all very fitting for their roles. Everyone seemed to be the correct height for the age they were portraying and the makeup and stage was well done to set the tone and scene. A few of the cast members seemed shaky with their lines and tended to say their words slowly as if trying to remember their words. I thought the actors playing Annie and Helen were marvelous and played their roles very well. Even though the actors were young, they knew how to stay in character, had their lines memorized, and perfectly executed each scene of the play. I would encourage everyone to go see the performance, and it made me want to see more.
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