An Excellent Play: The Miracle Worker

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The Miracle Worker, by William Gibson, is a true, emotional, and inspirational story about Helen Keller. I was able to attend the play Thursday night in the Jenkins theater at UWSP. The play started at 7:30 p.m. and lasted about 2 hours, with only one 10 minute intermission. Before going to the play I had no clue what to expect because I was unfamiliar with the story of Helen Keller, but I did know that she was blind and deaf. When I got to the theater and saw the set design I felt comfortable because of how realistic it looked. It was set in and around the Keller homestead in Tuscumbia, Alabama, around the 1880's. The stage was a very good size in my opinion and although I found the setting area to be quite small, it was very comfortable.

As soon as the play starts we learn about Helen's condition from the doctor. Her parents find out she is deaf and blind when she was very young. This had an emotional effect on me because it was sad to see Kate, Helen's mother, find out about her daughters condition. I held this emotional feeling in me throughout the play almost the entire time. As Helen grows up she becomes frustrated and violent because she cannot communicate, which also upsets her family. I found a few of these instances to be very funny, especially when Helen's brother and her father constantly bicker. It was also funny to see Helen eat her food with her hands and try to grab everyone else's food at the dinner table. When the Keller's hire Anne Sullivan to teach Helen to learn language the play becomes more intense and dramatic. Anne and Helen don't hit it off right away and a lot of the time I found myself laughing out loud at a few things Helen did to her, such as hitting her and locking her in her room. Although Helen could not communicate during almost all of the play, she was very smart and clever. Eventually the play becomes less funny and more serious when Anne feels she can't get through to Helen, which displeases Keller, Helen's father. Anne insists that she must be alone with Helen and that nobody can see her. When Anne and Helen move out I start to feel bad for Anne because even after 2 weeks she still felt hopeless. After dealing with a lot of violence and patience Anne finally gets through to Helen and at the very end of the play Helen learns the word water and eventually catches on to language, thanks to Anne. I was excited for Anne and Helen when this happened and very impressed with Anne.

Overall the play was very inspirational and all the actors and actresses fit their parts very well. I was left feeling inspired and happy because the play had a very exciting and happy ending. The Miracle Worker exceeded my expectations and I would definitely recommend this play to anyone and everyone.