Westminster's 'The Miracle Worker' finds parallels in faith
The Westminster Christian School Fine Arts department will present William Gibson's "The Miracle Worker."
Performances will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, March 2, and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Westminster Christian School, 2700 W. Highland Ave., Elgin, Tickets, $5-$8, are available at westminsterchristian.tix.com.
Based on the true story of Helen Keller, this play, set in 1885, captures the trial of a southern family burdened by their daughter's disabilities.
Seven year-old Helen was rendered blind and deaf by an illness in her childhood. In desperation, the family sends away for a teacher, young Miss Annie Sullivan, to teach Helen communication and day-to-day functionality. In spite of the Kellers' lack of faith in her methods, Annie does work a miracle, empowering Helen to communicate, which alters her life forever.
As director, Lois Shaw, and producer, Johanna Johnson, chose this year's high school play, they considered first the message of the story. Westminster strives to choose a storyline with a redeeming factor.
"'The Miracle Worker' has such a clear parallel to our faith," Shaw said, "as Helen is 'freed' from the captivity of her disability."
"This production features stage combat (a technique to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers), sign language and relational depth," she added. "It has been a challenging undertaking, but our select 12-student cast is doing an exceptional job at bringing it to life."
There were several challenges of "The Miracle Worker" at Westminster - the initial roadblock was casting a production of four to five male leads with not enough boys auditioning.
"We had to creatively work the script to reflect our female-heavy cast, but it unfolded seamlessly," Shaw said. "I predicted that blocking would be our trickiest task, striving to communicate Helen's deaf and blind character without falling into a comedic rhythm … it was daunting, and our cast has done such a phenomenal job at bringing out the misery of Helen, the frustration of the Kellers and the liberation of Annie's 'miracle.'"
The extremely demanding role of Helen Keller is performed by freshman Cara Thomas.
"I appreciate that the directors chose me and believed that I could do this role," Cara said. "It is very hard to pretend to be blind and deaf, but it has given me insight into the challenges of living with disabilities and allowed me to see that something so serious can be powerful and bring joy. One of the take-aways I have from 'The Miracle Worker' is that you should do things because you love them and glorify God through them."
Senior Michaela Newton is playing Helen's teacher, Annie Sullivan.
"This role has been emotionally different from other characters I've played and an overall more physically demanding role," Michaela said. She has enjoyed learning sign language and learning about stage combat for this role.
"It's been a blast to be with my fellow seniors Jon Franco (Captain Keller) and Christiane Thomas (Jane Keller) and to develop a sense of teamwork with the entire cast."
It takes a great deal of involvement and community effort to pull off a show. Aside from the diligent cast, each with significant roles and speaking lines, Westminster has several student and parent committees working behind the scenes to bring the show to life.
Overall, Shaw and Johnson are thrilled to be staging this production.
"Johanna and I love watching these students shine," Shaw said. "Every member of our cast is exceptionally talented and hardworking. From the meaningfulness of the story to the fun we've had in the rehearsal process, this production will be a treasured memory for us for years to come.
"I am so excited for the audience to be moved by our actors, I know this will be an impactful experience for them."