Northwest Academy Works Miracles

The Northwest Academy theater department concluded their 2013-2014 school year with a run of William Gibson’s “The Miracle Worker.”

“The Miracle Worker” is a three-act portrayal of deaf and blind Helen Keller who is frustrated by her inability to communicate, leaving her withdrawn and violent. Desperate, her parents hire a governess from the Perkins School for the Blind, Annie Sullivan, who tirelessly tries to reach Helen by teaching her language.

Wade Willis, the director, had wanted to do “The Miracle Worker” for some time, however it is very technically complicated. The lighting is subtle and dramatic, there are many sound cues and the set must have multiple portions, including a raised “upstairs” area. Yet, the biggest challenge is that the play is set in the 1880s, so every costume, set piece and prop must be period correct.

“The set design wasn’t as big of a challenge as the costumes where,” Willis said. “We attempted to transport the audience back to the late 1800’s through the authentic quality of the props and costumes not with the sets… The characters’ objectives and their relationships are where the story is told. By stripping away the sets, the audience must focus on the characters.”

However, the complications extend beyond costumes and props. The actors also have many challenges. Many of the actors have costume changes, they must deal with real food on set and their acting must also be period correct. The play is also a drama, not a comedy like the year’s opening production, which requires skill and rehearsal to produce the correct amount of emotion.

But the most amazing and challenging role is that of Helen Keller, played by sophomore Sophie MacKay. MacKay has only one line in the whole production, yet has the unique challenge of playing a violent, frustrated, deaf and blind girl. MacKay has an extensive acting resume with the Northwest Children’s Theater, including starring as Cinderella in their recent production of “Cinderella.” As an actor, MacKay had to get into the body and of a deaf and blind girl in order to play the part correctly.

“It is very difficult to try to image what it would be like to see, hear and experience the world through one’s fingers,” Willis said. “When Sophie’s eyes are open, she can see. Her challenge is to imagine she doesn’t see. Throughout the process it was, at times, challenging for her to not anticipate that something was going to happen when she could see full well that it was.”

Since Helen gets into many physical fights with Annie Sullivan, played by junior Linnea Kelly, both girls had to memorize very specific blockings.

“The play was especially difficult for me because all of my interactions with Helen were non-verbal, which was difficult in terms of memorizations because I didn’t have cue lines, which is usually the case.” Kelly said.

Another obstacle was that, in the same month, Northwest Academy had staged the musical “Xanadu” and run two shows for Arts Week, the Middle School Dynamo and High School Esprit. This was difficult not only for Willis, who was heavily involved in all of the events, but for the actors as well, as almost all of them had been involved in “Xanadu” or Esprit, as well as juggling regular schoolwork and studying for upcoming final exams.

“The run was very stressful but overall I’m proud of how we all did,” Kelly said.

The play ran four shows from May 22 to May 25.