Saturday, April 4, 2009

The Miracle Worker


Last night, I was awed by the amazing performances of Rebecca H. as Annie Sullivan and Brittany W. as Helen Keller in Riverbend High School's production of The Miracle Worker. When these two young women were alone on the stage, you forgot you were at a high school play. Their last scene together was exhilarating. Their struggles together were completely believable, never overacted. And Rebecca did an Irish accent that was very credible, not a distraction as fake accents on high school actors often are. So kudos to both of them for an unforgettable performance.

I also want to give a little shout-out to Rex, who gave a very convincing performance as "The Dog." In this production, dolls were used to represent babies, but the drama students took a chance on a real dog. Rex is onstage throughout most of one scene where he interacts with Helen, and I was amazed at how well that dog took direction. He appeared to hit all his marks, and not a bark or whimper out of him. I hope he is considering a career in theater or film. Or advertising at the very least.

You can catch the last performance of the play tonight at 7:00 pm. Admission is $5, a real bargain.

No comments: