It’s A Christmas Miracle (Worker) at Twilight!



 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.