Photo Credit: Paul Ruffolo
Helen Keller was born blind, deaf and unable to speak. That is, until a teacher, Annie Sullivan, showed up in her life and Helen’s world changed—and she then changed the world around her. The child would survive and thrive to become a world-renowned author, lecturer and political activist.
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson tells the story of the courage and determination of a 20-year-old teacher and her six-year-old pupil, fighting against insurmountable odds in rural Alabama during the early 1900s. Based on Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, The Miracle Worker became a commercially successful play and then film. First Stage has mounted a thoughtful, moving production with its cast of young people who perform admirably in this challenging work.
The crux of the play and actions revolves around its two key figures—Annie and Helen—and director Matt Daniels has fine-tuned his young cast to focus on the emotional side of the relationships, displaying a remarkable range of depth within the nine-member ensemble. Amid the simple stage setting, we bear witness to Helen’s physical outbursts and emotional tantrums while trying to communicate with the “outside world.” Spoiled out of pity by a family that can’t cope, Helen meets her match in Annie, herself recovering from surgery to cure her own blindness.
The two actresses in the key roles impress from the start; Jennie Babisch displays remarkable poise as Annie, battling her own emotional demons from the past. Exhausted one moment by her efforts, then recharged in her determination to “break through” to Helen, it is a skillful performance start to finish.
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As Helen, Ashley Nord has the demanding task of acting blind, deaf and mute. She does so with a convincing grace that belies Helen’s underlying intelligence and ferocious need to communicate. It is a physically demanding performance and she is completely believable and fully immersed in the role, bumping into furniture yet still knowing where things are when it suits her. These two actresses work so well together; a credit to the director supported by a hardworking ensemble.
Annie is told at the start of the play, “no one expects you to work miracles.” But as this production of The Miracle Worker shows us, miracles can happen all around us. All we need to do is believe.
Through May 19 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St. For tickets, call 414-267-2961 or visit firststage.org.
