Drama Works Double Miracle

Take alook around you. Notice the people - study
their featured the" e°’P’eSSl°"s» the 001078 of the”
eldthmg- Look at the theatre ~ the stage, with eurtdm ‘
still drawn, the lights, ,the aisles, the configuration of l
reefs- Liste" tothe sounds that surrouhd you - mu-
ste Lvluymg, the murmur of mmyled ootees from the
Crowd, sutlotoets of the oorwersottohs of People Close
hu;PerhePs someoue speaks to you A
*Now Close your eyes, shut out the sound, and tmoe-
. me the erpertenee you would be hllothg right how
without ell these Imoyme the world of Helleh s Kelle7~
1 -7 - direetor Andrea Chambers
B ;CHRl5TOPHER POTTER 1

Was a play ever more aptly titled than “The Miracle -
W9n Vislell, advaheed to Broadway and then to Hollywood, .=*l-._,=.=; ;.
with its literal message not to Curse the darkness und?
mlnlshed- » 1
“The Play actually involves a double miracle, sys An- rsf=
drea Chambers, Who
a_.re.t Prodlletiorl opening Thursday at Lydia .Mende1S_
sohlt Theater- Not only, Chambers observes, does the
drama depict the true-life tale of writer-lecturer Helen
Keueras torturous journey into e world’ but also the .
astonishing intuitive abilities of Helen’s teacher Annie Karen Sparks as Annie Sullivan, Ruthemma
Sullivan, who rose from roots far more humble than Rush as Helen Keller in AACT’§ prgduetign gf
Keller’s. . 1 'l I
“Annie was the tirst known therapist to bring a blind The Mwade Worker' `
and dgalf person intlol ragonal conéacg with the World
aroun er,” says C am ers. “An t e amazing thing
is she did it without any formal training.”
An orphan in the 1870s who went virtually blind at At one point Annie’s common-sense approach trig-
age 9, Annie spent her childhood in poorhouses and in, I ers a.-knpck-down, edrageout brawl. It’s_ “The Miracle
illJttll§ltiatZs»f l1; '#sH.:most"fameus. scene; oneethatroften 'makes e
where and how she grew up,” marvels Chambers. “Her theatergoers wince at its fury. “We’ve been very care-
little brother died while she was there. She had an in- ful choreographing the light, doing everything slowly,”
credibly deprived upbringing.” says Chambers. “We practice the scene several times
Sullivan subsequently underwent surgery that par- S a week. It’s almost like a dance, it’s so tightly choreo-
tially restored her sight. She learned to read and write- graphed. But now that they’ve got it down, they can
at jthe still-existent Perkins Institute forthe, Blind. At really put some emotion into it.”
20jand too old to stay at the school, she was dispatched 1 Choreography plays a crucial role throughout the
by! Perkins to the Keller family in Tuscumbia, Ala. play, the director adds. “When Helen touches or picks
There Annie (played by Karen Sparks in Civic’s pro- up something, it has to be timed precisely so that when
duction) became tutor to young Helen (played by Ruth- someone talks about her doing something, she’s doing
emma Rush), who lost ther sight and hearing to scarlet . it at that exact moment off in her own little world.
fever when she was 19 months old. Though blessed “Ruthemma has to know the entire script, even if
with superior intelligence (“She was supposedly learn- she doesn’t have lines as. such. But she’s been wonder-
ing to talk at six months,” says Chambers), Helen in ful. She’s 14 (Helen was 7 when Annie entered her life),
“The Miracle Worker” lives the life of af young, un- but we thought it was more important to get an actress
kempt savage, straddling the outside world yet stuck in who could handle the role. ~ »
a dark and silent universe of her own. ' “Karen’s also been wonderful as Annie. They work
‘fIronically,” says Chambers, “Helen’s family was too 'awfully well together.” Other performers in a large
jto her. Everybody had so much pity for her that cast include Wendy Wright as mom Kate Keller, Thom
theylnever tried to make her better. She would try to Johnson as pop Captain Keller, Brian Kimmet as
communicate, and they wouldn’t even try to under- James Keller, Don Sandberg as the Doctor, and John
stand her. Then she’d get so frustrated and throw a Kohl as Jimmie Sullivan. _
tantrum, and they’d give her a piece of candy to settle Says Chambers, “The play is a strange mix of fanta-
her "down.” , ` - y sy and reality. On the one hand you have ghosts ap-
The result was an angry, sullen, often violent child pearing (such as Jimmie), and on the otheryou have a
imprisoned inside her imperfect body. “When Annie food tight complete with at table, chairs and scrambled
arrived,” says Chambers, “the Kellers were shocked, eggs. We’ll have a good supply of the latter.”
because they were expecting an experienced older -
teacher. But Annie was the first person to demand of "The -Miracle Worker" runs Wednesday through Satur-
Helen that she behave like a normal child. This could day, Feb. 22-25 at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in The
beta very rough process, but it showed Annie respected University of Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave.
Helen as a functioninghuman being, something no one Curtain is 8 p.m. each night plus a 2 p.m. Saturday mat-
else had ever done.” ' inee. For information call 971 -AACI.