Actors’ NET of Bucks County puts on William Gibson’s poignant drama about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.
By: Stuart Duncan
She’s like a little safe, locked, that no one can open," a country doctor tells the Kellers, referring to the couple’s 7-year-old daughter, Helen, left deaf and speechless by a vicious attack of scarlet fever. Then he adds: "Maybe there is a treasure inside."
No maybes about this revival of William Gibson’s poignant drama about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, a true-life tale of courage and determination. The 20-year-old Irish girl, almost blind herself, travels from school in Boston to Alabama to take on the daunting task of saving young Helen from the asylum and returning her to a life of value.
The Miracle Worker is on stage at Actors’ NET of Bucks County at its home in the Heritage Center in Morrisville, Pa., the latest in an extraordinary list of successes at the postage-stamp-sized venue, formerly the town’s municipal garage.
No maybes about Joe Doyle’s sensitive direction; nor of magnificent performances by BriAnne Sudia (as Annie) and Tess Ammerman (as Helen). Ms. Ammerman is destined to be a future star; Ms. Sudia is already there.
As the safe is unlocked, there are many goodies inside. Playwright Gibson examines the conflict, ugly at times, between Annie and her employers, the Kellers. The parents have the natural sympathy for their afflicted daughter Annie believes they are spoiling her and that discipline is needed. Theresa and David Swartz, married in real life, are strong and confident in the roles. Ryan Dethy, rapidly becoming a valuable asset at Actors’ NET, is most convincing as James Keller, Helen’s half-brother, afraid to stand up to his father and thereby filled with self-pity.
Ultimately, the evening belongs to Ms. Sudia and Ms. Ammerman.
The food-fight breakfast, here staged with almost choreographed attention to detail, remains one of theater’s most exciting scenes. The recognition scene in which young Helen at last realizes that water indeed has a name and one she already knows, remains one in which the triumph of the human spirit leaves one misty-eyed.
Cheryl Doyle’s set design of the Keller home in Tuscumbia, Ala., is a triumph of its own over small spaces. It includes several levels and a working outdoor hand pump.
The Miracle Worker will work its own miracles.
The Miracle Worker continues at The Heritage Center, 635 N. Delmorr Ave., Morrisville, Pa., through Sept. 30. Performances: Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 6 p.m. Tickets cost $10; $8 seniors/children. For information, call (215) 295-3694. On the Web: hometown.aol.com/actorsnet

