There is a moment that ends the second act of the Scottsdale Community Players' current production of The Miracle Worker. The characters of Helen Keller and her desperately determined teacher Annie Sullivan are at an impasse, while simultaneously, Helen's family, father Captain Keller, mother Kate, and her half brother James, are suffering both Helen's problems and their own internal split. As the second act closes, director Betty St. George isolates them each in a separate blue special, tightly highlighting their sullen, crestfallen faces. It is this moment when I realize what the Valley's theatre community lost five years ago when St. George retired due to illness: a director who knows how to combine all theatrical elements to wordlessly establish the heft of emotion of a single, seminal moment.
The production does not always succeed like the abovementioned image, but successes outweigh missteps, and the show, which sputtered to start, finished off strong. The ensemble, lead by Darryl Horsman's Captain and Belinda Chron's Kate, seemed to succumb to opening night hesitations, and took most of the first and part of the second act to finally become comfortable. From that point, they were able to embrace their roles. The only ensemble actor who seemed unaffected by this was Dustin Wiebelhaus as Helen's half brother, who strongly and consistently presented his own subplot of searching for approval from his distant father. For consistency, though, the audience need look no further than Megan Cooper's Annie and Alyson Maloney's Helen.
These two roles are among the most challenging women's roles in the canon of modern American drama. Playwright William Gibson forces his characters to suffer from both past afflictions as well as current misgivings. The account of Annie overcoming her own horrific ghosts and fight to pierce the dark silence of Helen's world is still strong 43 years after its initial Broadway production. Cooper infuses Annie with a wonderful mix of confident strengths and haunted fears. She simultaneously captures the humor, hard-headedness, and compassion of her character. She also has a wonderful stage presence that comes not from her physicality, but a remarkable depth of understanding of her character.
Maloney takes on Helen with strength; Hesitance is deadly in this role, and she never backs away. With St. George's keen eye to guide her, she adopts the odd mannerisms and vocal patterns of Helen to great effect. There is nothing self-conscious about this presentation, and that is what makes it succeed as well as it does.
Jonathan Givens' black and grey set is effective, though Kathryn Holley's lighting is too dark in contrast, often leaving the actors in shadow. Scott Kirkorsky's sound design works very well, adding a bit of filmic music to appropriate moments. Esther Turner's costumes are generally period, and support the characters well.
Following the show, as I went to compliment her on her success, St. George earnestly responded that she could not have done what she did without her excellent Stage Manager Tom Connick and her wonderful cast. It is rare for someone so talented to readily acknowledge the collaborative side of theatre. I only hope that this is the start of a phoenix-like rise of St. George's career, and that this second phase will result in many more successes for audiences to enjoy.
Production Details:
The Miracle Worker by William
Gibson
Scottsdale Community
Players
Stagebrush Theatre, Scottsdale (For a
map to location, click this
link)
(480) 990-7405
March 15th - 31st, 2002