Review for the play, The Miracle Worker. (Theatre appreciation) - Essay Example

The Miracle Worker This is a play I went to watch with some degree of expectations. Mainly because this play was on based on life events of a truly iconic figure, Helen Keller . But it was more than that. It is usually very difficult to put together a play like this unless it is a very thoroughly put together production. There is not much room for error here. The Play itself is about how Anne Sullivan Struggles to teach a blind and deaf Helen Keller to communicate. The enormity of the task seems quite overwhelming.

I had read the story, but how would one be able to act this on the stage To say that the acting in this play was awesome is an understatement. Lauren Lovett as Anne Sullivan is exceptionally brilliant. What was striking about her performance among other things was her enthusiasm. I have been to many plays before, and there is always a sense of being an observer. You are watching somebody else perform, even if it is a very good performance. Rarely are you actually drawn into the play. Lauren Lovett was Anne Sullivan for this one night.

As she explained things to Helen Keller which can't be seen or heard, one's own imagination was touched. And I would certainly think I was not the only person feeling like that in the Theatre. One of the things which this play, perhaps had to do was to convey to the audience what a difficult, perhaps nearly impossible task which Anne Sullivan had to do. That actually is achieved. You appreciate the enthusiasm and the dedication that Anne Sullivan had to reach young Helen. Her idealism is almost contagious.

I cannot believe that anybody seeing this play would be cynical about humanity after leaving the theater. The Acting of Emily Jane Stewart as the young Helen Keller is another revelation. Watching her, one never for a moment thinks that one is watching an actor act as a blind and deaf girl. It actually looked like that the production went to the extent of actually recruiting a blind and deaf girl. And I am sure there were people in the theatre who were surprised to find that Emily Jane Stewart was neither blind nor deaf.

Johanna Leister and Kenneth Gray also give a good performance as Helen Keller's parents. But without a doubt the two main features of this play was the performance of Laura Lovett and Emily Jane Stewart. In many ways that was the complete play in itself. The supporting cast , direction and production I am sure contributed to the play being so powerful , but in my opinion the performance of these two was what got it to this level.The interaction between the two is truly memorable. It is a battle of will and a battle of wits.

How does a blind and deaf young girl, throw a tantrum Watching the dining room sequence between both of them was truly amazing. I suppose most of us know that Anne Sullivan was the Miracle worker here. But what is communicated to us, that this was no person with a magic wand. Here was a person who carried the hopes of a desperate mother and a hopeful father and was not sure of how successful she would be. There is no doubt that none of this would be possible without there being a foundation of Love.

And that adds another "amazing" to the already long list of amazing features about this play. The Communication between Laura Lovett's Anne Sullivan and Emily Jane Stewart's Helen Keller would seem to convey anything but that. The way she dismisses Helen's parents at the breakfast table , to make Helen learn how to eat normally. There is no compassion here. Anne was here to make Helen take on the world on her own terms ,and that is conveyed here. Helen was not going to be some helpless little girl who would need sympathy.

Yes , she had huge obstacles. Obstacles which few of us would or could ever face, but she would overcome those obstacles.Now it is important to understand that this play was not the entire life of Helen Keller , but a very brief snapshot of a crucial formative stage in her life. But this play makes you want to read more , find out more. Many of us know, how this turns out , but I am sure many like me would want to know more about the incredible journey. I knew who Helen Keller was , and to an extent knew who Anne Sullivan was too , before watching the play.

But I can without a doubt , say that this play made these two people come alive for me , and more so than ever any doubts I may ever have had about the Human Spirit were gone for ever.