Review by Valerie A. M. Hall

"The Miracle Worker" was a play that was performed by the Junior Theater at the Casa del Prado, in Balboa Park. I went there on Sunday afternoon to see the last show with my friend. We enjoyed every minute of it. The actors were all kids between the ages of 8 and 18. They were so realistic that the story really hit me with everything it had. It made me feel like I was there with them. I couldn’t believe how amazing they were.

The story was about Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Anne helped Helen to communicate with the world by using sign language. Helen was blind, deaf, and mute, so this really was a miracle. I think it would be very lonely to be deaf, or blind, or mute——one at a time, but to be all three at once would make me want to die! I felt very sad for Helen, and especially for the way she had to live before Anne came to help her.

Helen Keller’s part was played by Rachael Foodman, who was only 13 years old. She did a great job! It was a very hard part to play because she had to convince us that she couldn’t see, hear, or speak. She even threw a water pitcher and broke it on the stage during one of the scenes. It was shocking and startled everyone. She did many crazy things like eating from everyone else’s plates at the dinner table because her parents didn’t know how to control her. She would get food all over her clothes and face, and on the table and floor. It must have been hard to do these things on stage and in front of an audience. It was very hard for Anne Sullivan to teach Helen that this behavior was wrong.

I really felt badly for Anne Sullivan because she had a very hard life, too. She and her brother, Joey, had to live in an orphanage when they were young. They were supposed to be together the whole time, but they were separated and Joey died. Anne was haunted by Joey’s death, for years. That was very sad. Anne and her brother also had to sleep in a room where the babies who died in the orphanage were kept before they could be buried. That would give me nightmares!

Anne Sullivan’s part was played by a girl named Chloe, who was 18 years old. She was such an excellent actor that I thought she was much older. She was like a professional actor. She had to take a lot of abuse from Helen, too. I don’t know how she could do that so well and be only 18 years old. She made me think that she was a real teacher of sign language because I could see and understand some of the signs. This performance was for a big group of deaf students, so they had two interpreters in front of the stage, using sign language for them.

When Anne finally started to reach Helen, it felt so good because it was such hard work and it took so long. I was proud of Anne for never giving up on Helen. I could never be that patient with such a wild and crazy student. Helen would bite, break things, make terrible messes, throw tantrums, kick with her feet, and really hurt you. I think Anne Sullivan was a saint! After a while Helen’s mother started to agree with Anne’s methods and worked with her to help Helen. Helen’s father, on the other hand, was no help, but could eventually see the improvements in his daughter.

It was so wonderful to watch Helen learn to express herself with sign language. That would be so amazing to experience. I can’t even imagine how she must have felt when she finally started to understand what was going on. I think it would be like living as a helpless baby for a very long time and then learning to behave like a normal adult. She finally stopped acting crazy and having temper tantrums, and began to really use her new skills to communicate her needs. She was very smart, but before Anne taught her how to do anything, everyone thought Helen was retarded.

I was so happy at the end of the story, because Helen was saved from a terrible life of darkness, silence, and loneliness. I was so glad that Anne was finally respected for what she was trying to do and for all her hard work. After teaching Helen to live a pretty normal life, Anne was no longer haunted by her brother’s death. Anne Sullivan was a true heroine and Helen Keller was a courageous inspiration to us all. If someone with no sight, hearing or ability to speak can learn as much as she did, anyone can!