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| Nina Monique Kelly and Olivia Holmstedt |
By Tina Arth
To further embed its reputation for playing way outside the
borders of the sandbox, Twilight Theater is presenting playwright William
Gibson’s Tony award-winning The Miracle
Worker in the wintry timeslot traditionally reserved for holly and
mistletoe, Scrooge and Cratchit, or at least Santa and an octet of tiny
reindeer. For this I offer up heartfelt thanks – there are a lot of great plays
out there, and it just doesn’t make sense to dedicate 1/8 of the year to one
particular (if large) genre. Several years ago, Director Doreen Lundberg led a
fine Washington County cast through a multi-award winning production of The Miracle Worker, and I suspect that
she has been hankering to take another shot at the play ever since. Now that
I’ve seen her 2019 take on the show, I’m glad she did – the Twilight production
is a lovely way to conclude Twilight’s 2019 “In the Buff” season (and no, there
are no nude scenes!).
For the uninitiated: The
Miracle Worker is based on the true story of a woman named Anne Sullivan
who in 1887, when not much older than child herself, moved from Boston to
Tuscumbia, Alabama, to tutor a young blind and deaf girl, Helen Keller. The
Kellers have no idea what to do with their daughter – half brother Jimmie wants
her institutionalized, mother Kate wants to shelter and indulge her, and her
father, Captain Keller, wants peace and order in his family (and subservience
from his employees). Sullivan brings her own experience with blindness, fierce
intelligence, persistence, and utter lack of deference to a seemingly
impossible task – breaking through to Helen’s brilliant but trapped mind. Using
innovative teaching methods, in a few months Sullivan succeeds in transforming
her charge from a completely spoiled wild animal into a child able to learn,
and ultimately to understand the roots of language, communicate with those
around her, and connect with the outside world.
The show can be tough to cast well – in particular, the role
of Helen is critical, demanding a young actor able to tell her whole story
without the use of words. Olivia Holmstedt handles the part superbly – she is
on stage almost constantly for three acts, and carries off the physical demands
flawlessly. Her eyes never focus and she responds to stimuli with her entire
body. More important, she somehow radiates the inner turmoil, sly cleverness,
fierce temper, confusion, and emotional neediness of her character. While the
roles are less demanding, the play also requires several other young girls to
portray household help and blind girls in Boston. Director Lundberg managed to
find 5 fine actors ranging from 7 years old to early teens to fill these
smaller, but still significant roles.
The adult cast is similarly strong. Valerie Asbell’s “Annie
Sullivan” is a complex mixture of self-doubt and obstinacy – tough, yet
vulnerable and, like Helen, seeking connection. Asbell maintains a consistent
and nicely underplayed Irish accent that reinforces her character’s essential
traits, and she delivers even the sassiest lines with style. Nina Monique
Kelly’s “Kate” seems like the polar opposite – conciliatory, gracious, calm,
positive – but she also reveals a core of inner steel that allows her to fight
for Helen and, ultimately, to make hard choices her daughter ‘s future. I really enjoyed Rick Barr’s “Captain Keller”
– his hair trigger temper, bluster, and military mien are at odds with an inner
softness, and Barr transitions nicely between his interior and exterior selves.
Blaine Vincent III’s “Jimmie” is
similarly divided and nuanced, as he fights for respect and love from a father
who doesn’t have a clue and gradually achieves détente with his stepmother –
the contrast between Blaine’s expressive eyes and Olivia’s sightlessness subtly
emphasizes the problems each has in learning to communicate.
The decision to perform The
Miracle Worker in an essentially black-box set was inspired. Twilight’s
facility is small enough for a really intimate audience/cast relationship (even
more so if, like me, you sit in the front row), and much of the story is told
not with the words but with the actors’ facial expressions. The absence of a
detailed set forces us to focus with laser-like precision on their faces,
allowing us to discern the inner dialogues that most accurately project the
characters’ feelings and reactions. In addition, eliminating lengthy scene
changes supports Lundberg’s overall pacing, which keeps a longer show from
dragging.
Without much in the way of a set, Robin Pair’s lighting
design works overtime to create mood and to shift our attention from one part
of the stage to another as the action demands.
Finally, Karen Roder’s costume design is generally precise – accurate
for the period, appropriate for each character’s social status. I am a bit curious
about Olivia’s footwear choice (roughly akin to combat boots) but can imagine a
rationale for the decision.
I have seen, and enjoyed, several different versions of The Miracle Worker, but this one
affected me with unusual emotional power, and kept me near tears toward the
end. There’s only one more weekend to enjoy it – by all means trek to Twilight
for a three-act break from The Jolly Season.
Twilight Theater Company’s The Miracle Worker is playing at the Performing Arts Theater, 7515
N. Brandon Avenue, Portland through December 22, with performances at 8 P.M. on
Friday–Saturday, and 3:00 PM on Sunday.
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