The Miracle Worker

The Miracle Worker

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Photographs: Joan Marcus

Although this production has received respectful but not rave reviews, The Miracle Worker is certainly the best play for kids currently running on the Great White Way. Playwright William Gibson’s Tony Award–winning work dramatizes the volatile, true-life relationship between deaf and blind Helen Keller (Little Miss Sunshine Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin) and her 20-year-old teacher, Annie Sullivan (Alison Pill), who finally reached her. The show also examines the tensions between Helen’s mother (Jennifer Morrison) and father (Matthew Modine) over their disabled daughter’s future and her disaffected half-brother (Tobias Segal). The familial conflicts are complex but relatable, and only one falls outside the purview of a child’s understanding.

In a strange attempt to darken the mood, director Kate Whoriskey stages brief but horrifying flashbacks to Sullivan’s tragic childhood, during which she lived in a tuberculosis asylum with her younger brother, Jimmie (Lance Chantiles-Wertz). These unsettling sequences are presented with no context, on a blacked-out stage with a single bright light shining down on Sullivan and her emaciated, nearly naked sibling, who cries out in terror and pain and then finally dies. Disturbing, confusing and somewhat forced, these moments take away from an otherwise well-executed and uplifting play.

Stage veteran Pill impresses with her fiery and pointed portrayal of proud New Englander Sullivan, and Breslin (the big draw for kids thanks to her role in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl) is a physical wonder, overflowing with feeling and expertly timed tantrums. Thanks to her, the stage is filled with constant motion, and consequently the audience stays engaged in the action.

The best news is that kids will be able to see all of this for themselves quite clearly. The Miracle Worker is presented in the round, so every seat offers an excellent view of the stage, regardless of the occupant’s height. That means no boosters or neck craning—a miracle almost as impressive as Keller’s utterance of “water” at the play’s end.—Julia Israel

The Miracle Worker plays at the Circle in the Square Theatre through Apr 4. Tickets: $117.

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• Abigail Breslin interview
• Theater articles
• Articles from this issue