09 October 2007

The Miracle Worker

Went to the first Neptune show of the new season on Saturday night - William Gibson's classic The Miracle Worker. Great production, and really fine performances from the actresses portraying Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. (Oh, and the woman who played Helen's mother is somebody I went to high school with!)

The scenes of those two women working together were utterly exhausting to watch, though - with Annie repeatedly having to restrain Helen's feral temper tantrums while also trying to instill understanding in her. And I left the theatre thinking that, ironically, if Annie Sullivan were trying to use those same methods on Helen Keller today, she'd doubtless be sacked and brought up on assault charges. Which is pretty crazy!

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