Actors, set contribute to 'miraculous' performance
Jason Curtis
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Entertainment
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"The Miracle Worker" is the real-life story of Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf from a very young age. The time-honored tale is set in Alabama back in the mid-1880s and focuses on Keller family's struggle to teach and keep Helen under control. The family ends up hiring Annie Sullivan to care for her in hopes that she will learn how to communicate with them. Over the course of the story, Helen learns sign language and how to control her outbursts while growing to love Annie as her mentor.
The acting in this play was the best I had ever seen. Two of the actors made this play truly astounding. Helen Keller, played by Amy Schweid, was absolutely phenomenal. There were times I thought she was really blind and deaf. She played this character so well that I would rate her performance above some well-known Broadway actresses.
Christopher Harris, who was cast for the role of Captain Keller, had an exceptional performance, too. The audience could definitely tell that his character was irritated by his facial expressions, and he was irate throughout most of the play. But this was the nature of his character and Harris played it well.
The staging of fights as well as the sound effects were right on target, too. When Helen and Annie (played by Amanda Waldron) were slapping each other, it seemed fairly real with their timing.
During this production, Annie experienced memories and flashbacks that were portrayed in a unique way. These scenes were behind a black netting with a light to show that they were a faded presence. This helped set the proper feel for reminiscence.
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posted 11/25/09 @ 1:13 AM CST
It was a good perfprmance.
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