 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
                  |
|
 Miracle Worker played with powerful authenticity By Adrian Chamberlain
Rating: 4 (out of five) The story of Helen Keller is an archetypal 20th-century tale. A source for numerous films, books and plays, most of us know the story of the deaf and blind girl who, thanks to an indefatigable teacher, learns to communicate with the world. The play, written by William Gibson, was performed on Broadway in 1959 with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, who also starred in the popular film adaptation. The familiar story seems ripe for a sentimental treatment -- yet in practice, Gibson's well-crafted drama still holds up well. Perfectly suited to Chemainus Theatre, which tends to focus on "inspirational" theatre, the company's new production is smartly directed, boasts fine production values and is elevated by the superior acting of Aviva Armour-Ostroff, who plays Anne Sullivan, Helen's teacher. The Miracle Worker chronicles Keller's childhood. Set in Alabama in the 1880s, Keller is born to a upper-middle-class family -- in fact, her father was a cousin of the famous Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. Helen is introduced as a frustrated hellion. Intelligent but cut off from the world, she flings food on the dining room walls when she's not spitting it out -- seeming almost an 18th century version of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. In this age, such handicapped children were typically packed off to horrific asylums for the mentally ill, so Keller's future looks dim. Enter Anne Sullivan, an orphan who spent her own childhood in an awful state-run institution packed with prostitutes and the insane. Hired by the Keller family as a last resort, the 21-year-old embarks on a decidedly progressive -- even radical -- method of training Helen. Anne constantly signs everything on Helen's palm, banking on the notion that one day the girl will catch on to sign language. Because the hard-to-handle Helen is spoiled -- almost feral -- Anne convinces the family to allow her 24-hour, exclusive access to the youngster. This causes battles in itself. As expected, the play climaxes with Helen making her first significant breakthrough -- being able to spontaneously sign the world "water." (Helen even says "wa-wa," which -- though tremendously theatrical -- is a bit of a chin-scratcher, given that she's deaf.) Wisely, Gibson's focus is not so much on tear-jerking sequences as the Herculean struggle to bring Helen around. It's portrayed as an incredibly gritty and visceral battle; one gets the smallest glimmer of how terribly challenging such work is. Armour-Ostroff, a gifted Toronto actor, makes Anne simultaneously bossy, likeable, earnest, funny ... and somehow, absolutely true. During Friday's performance, it was impossible to believe she was not Anne. Armour-Ostroff is the real deal; her performance alone makes The Miracle Worker well worth the drive from Victoria. The mostly mute role of Helen is a peculiar one. Hayley Carr was convincing, eyes rolled upward and arms extended helplessly. A sub-plot in which cynical son James Keller clashes with his father seems rather tacked on, although it does add interest. Thomas Gibson (as James) needs to take care his performances don't become too stagey, thus upsetting the play's tone. Once again, Chemainus Theatre artistic director Jeremy Tow has overseen the proceedings with intelligence and great heart (next summer Tow moves on to take over Western Canada Theatre, a significant loss for this company). Carole Klemm's multi-tiered set, complete with a small revolving stage, is wonderfully detailed and functional. The lighting, by Rebekah Johnson, is absolutely lovely. At times, constellations of braille-like dots illuminate the stage -- a wonderfully poetic metaphor for Helen's struggle to link to the outside world. Also successful are the lit words and phrases (obviously Keller's own distinctive handwriting) occasionally projected on the set. Solo cello flourishes serve to link scenes and add tasteful touches of drama and atmosphere.
Play offers strong performances By Lynn Welburn
Helen Keller has been a household name for decades from being used as the archetypical hero who overcomes great physical disabilities to the unkind and stupid jokes that so tickled the pre-adolescent minds of my childhood. Her story has been told and re-told dozens of times in books, films and plays until most of us know a fair amount about the deaf and blind girl who finally learns to communicate with an unforgiving world through the audacious and stubborn efforts of an unlikely teacher. The Miracle Worker, now showing at Chemainus Festival Theatre, retells Keller's story which takes place in Alabama circa 1880. Here, the middle-class family and social safety net of the day are totally incapable of dealing with Helen's disabilities. Fearing to take away anything more than Helen (Hayley Carr) has already lost, her family gives her free rein and she has, unsurprisingly, turned into a spoiled and unlikeable brat who rules the household with tantrums, thrown food, wailing and hitting. It's beginning to look like the family might have to send her off to one of the thoroughly nasty asylums which formed the typical treatment for disabled children of the day. But doting mother Kate (Erin Ormond) hears of a new teaching method and invites in Annie Sullivan (Aviva Armour-Ostroff) whose tough childhood and personal experience with blindness give her the insight and determination to reach the frustrated mind inside the outward hellion that Helen is developing into. Armour-Ostroff gives a compelling performance as the avant garde teacher who must not only battle Helen's demons but also the mindset of the family if she is to succeed. Her brashness alienates the pompous father (Garry Davey) who prefers his women more submissive and her practical toughness frightens Helen's mother who is deftly portrayed as helpless with fear for her daughter. But as inspiring a story as this is, the play manages to avoid being maudlin or trite and offers much more grit and humour than one might expect. The cast is very competent overall and the quite stunningly good performance by Armour-Ostroff puts it over the top. She wins over the audience as skillfully as she does her challenging charge. The chemistry between Armour-Ostroff and the convincing Carr works admirably well. Add to these strengths, the attractive multi-tiered set and beautiful lighting that includes occasional braille-style spots and words that flood the stage, a link with the thoughts that Helen has but must fight to express to the mysterious world around her. The Miracle Worker runs until Oct. 25 and it's well worth seeing, if not for the familiar tale, then for some top performances. Add on the Southern-style buffet at the Playbill Dining Room for even more pleasure.
High quality play from theatre festival - Miracle Worker By Allison Vail
One has to appreciate the difficulty of performing as someone who cannot hear or see those around them. Hayley Carr, as Helen Keller in Chemainus Theatre Festival's production of The Miracle Worker throws her whole body into the challenge, attacking it with gusto. Her role is so physically demanding it is exhausting to watch. The subtleties of her performance are also demanding - the rolled back, unfocused eyes, the stiff movements of walking, the floppy collapses. Particularly astounding and tiring is a scene between Helen and her teacher, Annie Sullivan (Aviva Armour-Ostroff). It's a physical and emotional wrestling match and Annie attempts to break Helen's bad eating habits. The battle of wills is fantastically portrayed in a battle of strength as Annie forces Helen to eat like a human, instead of a wild child, stealing off others' plates. The battle is heartbreaking, but funny as each tries to get the last word, so to speak. Armour-Ostroff brings forward a delightfully spunky Annie. The Miracle Worker brings forward some of her past, which adds an interesting element to the play. Annie struggles to cope with her past, while being thrust into a very stressful situation. Erin Ormond is also strong in her role as Kate Keller, Helen's mother. She is perfect as a woman agonizing over her young child and struggling with herself regarding what should be done to help Helen. Garry Davey is entertaining as Helen's father, who is rather controlled by the many women in his family, and by the outsider Annie. Helen Keller's story, written about in books, is an entirely different animal when portrayed by talented actors live. It's much easier to imagine the struggle the Keller family had with Helen, who gave them so many challenges because of her deafness and blindness. Their agony is palpable. It is a beautiful thing to seen Helen's transformation once she establishes a way to communicate with the outside world. The final moments of the play had a profound emotional impact - one theatre watcher held a box of tissues for those exiting the theatres. I suspect it was well used. However, for such a dramatically serious play, The Miracle Worker is delightfully funny and smart too.
Miracle Worker blessed with exceptional cast By Tom Masters
"The Miracle Worker" is a story about a beginning. The legend of Helen Keller, the deaf-blind child of a 19th century Alabama family who became one of the 20th century's most remarkable personalities is well known. But how did she get to that beginning? That is the question. The play by American playwright William Gibson focuses not on the character of the child Helen Keller but rather on her teacher, Anne Sullivan, the miracle worker of the title. Sullivan, only 20 years old when she first met Helen, was herself visually impaired and had lived for a time in an asylum of the kind to which Helen might have been condemned had she not been blessed with a loving and tolerant family. Chemainus Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jeremy Tow, always at his best in the American social and cultural milieu, does an outstanding job with equally outstanding material. Gibson's play won several Tony Awards following its opening in 1959. Scenery design by Carole Klemm is particularly ingenious, providing a wide variation in settings from a single multipurpose set. Norma Bowen's costume design brings a startling sense of 'being there,' reminiscent of photographs from the well documented post Civil War period. Sound design in a story about communication and isolation takes on special importance. Sound designer Brian Linds employs a solo cello with wonderful effect to echo the isolation experienced by Helen and, for a time, her teacher Anne Sullivan, who must battle the family for the right to impose needed discipline on her willful charge. Less successful are the voices from the past which the lonely and driven Anne Sullivan apparently hears in her private moments. One of the surprises, in a story whose dramatic elements are well known and whose emotional climax is much anticipated, is the leavening of humour which runs throughout. The audience is more often moved to laughter than to tears, a good thing in a tale marked by underlying themes of despair and hope in equal measure. In the end, of course, the play is the players and here we are blessed, as we so often are at Chemainus Theatre Festival, by a cast of exceptional performers. There cannot be a role more challenging for an actor than to portray a child, intelligent, questioning, trapped in a body that will not let her hear or see anything of the outside world she knows is there. In an astonishing performance, Haley Carr has found a way to meet that challenge. Through action, expression, body language and gesture alone, Carr is able to create a fully rounded personality with such success that by the end of the Play we almost feel as if we know her as well as does her own family. Garry Davey, as Captain Arthur Keller, is an interesting conundrum: a retired officer of the Confederate army, a southern gentleman, authoritarian and yet a man of great compassion and understanding. Yet it is his wife Kate, played in a finely understated performance by Erin Ormond, who provides the emotional and spiritual centre around which the family's turmoil revolves. Breton Frazier provides strong support as the motherly Aunt Ev, sister of Captain Keller. Thomas Gibson plays James, half-brother of Helen, struggling to find his place in the world and win the approval of his stern father. But this is the story of teacher Anne Sullivan, played with great é lan by Aviva Armour-Ostroff. Here is a very young woman - "I'm not a teen-ager!" - a northerner to boot, thrown into her very first job far from home in what to her must have seemed almost an alien culture. Certainly the Keller family find themselves somewhat taken aback by a woman who comes from a place and a society for whom, as Captain Keller observes, "Allowances must be made." Much of the humour in the play derives from this clash of cultures; and in the end, it is Anne's no-nonsense determination that wins over both the family and Helen herself. The famous dining room scene in which Anne first imposes her will on the out-of-controlchild concludes with her cryptic report, "The room's a wreck, but she folded her napkin." It is a measure of the intensity and ultimate impact of a play when members of the cast must take a moment to compose themselves before stepping forward to take their final bow.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|