The Miracle Worker (play)

{{Infobox play

| name = The Miracle Worker

| image = Anne Bancroft Patty Duke Miracle Worker 1 1960.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker, 1960

| characters = Annie Sullivan
Helen Keller
Captain Arthur Keller
Kate Keller
James Keller
Aunt Ev (Evelyn)
Anagnos
Viney

| setting = Tuscumbia, Alabama

| premiere = October 19, 1959

| place = Playhouse Theatre

| orig_lang = English

| subject =

| genre =

| web =

}}

The Miracle Worker is a three-act play by William Gibson adapted from his 1957 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name. It was based on Helen Keller's 1903 autobiography The Story of My Life.

The play's title was inspired by a Mark Twain quote: "Helen is a miracle, and Miss Sullivan is the miracle worker".{{cite news |last=Gibson |first=William |date=October 14, 1979 |title=Looking Back At The Miracle Worker on TV |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/14/archives/looking-back-at-the-miracle-worker-on-tv-keller.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117235454/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/14/archives/looking-back-at-the-miracle-worker-on-tv-keller.html |url-status=live}}

Plot

In Tuscumbia, Alabama, an illness renders infant Helen Keller blind, deaf, and consequently mute (deaf-mute). Pitied and badly spoiled by her parents, Helen is taught no discipline and, by the age of six, grows into a wild, angry, tantrum-throwing child in control of the household. Desperate, the Kellers hire Annie Sullivan to serve as governess and teacher for their daughter. After several fierce battles with Helen, Annie convinces the Kellers that she needs two weeks alone with Helen in order to achieve any progress in the girl's education. In this time, Annie teaches Helen discipline through persistence and consistency, and language through hand signals, a double breakthrough that changes Helen's life and has a direct effect on the lives of everyone in the family.

Characters

Annie Sullivan Helen's teacher
Helen Keller blind-deaf child
Captain Arthur H. Keller, Helen's father
Kate Keller, Helen's mother
James Keller, Helen's half-brother
Aunt Ev, Arthur's sister and Helen's aunt
Michael Anagnos, director of the Perkins School for the Blind
Viney, a servant in the Keller household
Percy, Viney's son
Martha, Viney's daughter
Blind Girls
Offstage Voices

Productions

The play premiered on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre on October 19, 1959, and closed on July 1, 1961, after 719 performances. The production was directed by Arthur Penn with scenic and lighting design by George Jenkins and costumes by Ruth Morley. The cast starred Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan and Patty Duke as Helen Keller. Featured in the cast were Torin Thatcher as Captain Keller, Patricia Neal as Kate Keller, Michael Constantine as Anagnos, and Beah Richards as Viney. Patty Duke stayed with the production until May 1961. Her understudy, Karen Lee, replaced her on May 11, 1961{{Cite web |title=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) 11 May 1961, page 108 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/714546692/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 21 May 1961, page Page 22 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88386958/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}} and stayed with the production through its closing on July 1, 1961.{{Cite web |title=The Miracle Worker – Broadway Play – Original {{!}} IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-miracle-worker-2759 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=www.ibdb.com}} Suzanne Pleshette replaced Anne Bancroft on February 6, 1961.{{Cite web |title=Tampa Bay Times 01 Feb 1961, page 29 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/318054040/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The Reporter Dispatch 06 Feb 1961, page 11 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/910826662/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}

The play was produced in the West End in March 1961 with Anna Massey as Sullivan and Janina Faye as Keller. It transferred to Wyndham's Theatre in May. A revival was produced at Wyndham's Theatre on August 31, 1994, and closed on October 8.{{cite web|url=http://www.thisistheatre.com/shows/wyndhams152.html|title='The Miracle Worker' listing|work=ThisIsTheatre.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304034714/http://www.thisistheatre.com/shows/wyndhams152.html|archive-date=March 4, 2012}} The production was directed by Richard Olivier and Bill Kenwright. The cast featured Catherine Holman as Keller, Jenny Seagrove as Sullivan, William Gaunt as Captain Keller, Judi Bowker as Kate Keller, and Michael Thornton as Anagnos.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the play, it was revived on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre, opening on March 3, 2010. Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the cast starred Alison Pill as Sullivan and Abigail Breslin as Keller. The cast featured Matthew Modine as Captain Keller, Jennifer Morrison as Kate Keller, Tobias Segal as James Keller, and Elizabeth Franz as Aunt Ev. Despite critical praise, the revival failed to find an audience and closed on April 4 (after 21 previews and 38 regular performances), with the entire $2,600,000 capitalization in the project being lost.{{cite web|author=BWW News Desk|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/The_Miracle_Worker_to_Close_on_Broadway_April_4_20010101|title=The Miracle Worker to Close on Broadway April 4|work=Broadway World|date=March 28, 2010|access-date=March 28, 2010|archive-date=August 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815041916/http://broadwayworld.com/article/The_Miracle_Worker_to_Close_on_Broadway_April_4_20010101|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Gans|first1=Andrew|last2=Jones|first2=Kenneth|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/the-miracle-worker-will-go-dark-final-broadway-performance-is-april-4-166809|title=The Miracle Worker Will Go Dark; Final Broadway Performance Is April 4|publisher=Playbill|date=March 28, 2010|access-date=March 29, 2010|archive-date=October 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009153213/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/the-miracle-worker-will-go-dark-final-broadway-performance-is-april-4-166809|url-status=live}}

In May 2011, Duke continued her career-long involvement with the play by directing a production of it at Interplayers Theatre in Spokane, Washington.{{cite web|last=Kershner|first=Jim|url=http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spotlight/2011/may/07/review-duke-directed-miracle-worker/|title=Review of Duke-directed 'Miracle Worker'|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=May 7, 2011|access-date=May 8, 2011|archive-date=December 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204122404/http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spotlight/2011/may/07/review-duke-directed-miracle-worker/|url-status=live}}

Ivy Green, Helen Keller's childhood home, hosts an annual outdoor production which is Alabama's official outdoor drama.{{citation |title= Miracle at Ivy Green |author= Teri Thornton Stepleton |date= June 3, 2016 |work= TimesDaily |url= https://www.timesdaily.com/life/entertainment/miracle-at-ivy-green/article_c50fd763-e1b7-5d56-8742-3f2ff4ec298b.html |access-date= May 8, 2019 |archive-date= May 8, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190508125401/https://www.timesdaily.com/life/entertainment/miracle-at-ivy-green/article_c50fd763-e1b7-5d56-8742-3f2ff4ec298b.html |url-status= live}}{{cite web |title= Official Alabama Outdoor Drama |date= February 6, 2014 |publisher= Alabama Department of Archives and History |work= Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama |url= http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_odram.html |access-date= May 8, 2019 |archive-date= June 6, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190606045717/http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_odram.html |url-status= live}}

Critical response

Time called the original production "a story that, however well known, acquires stunning new reality and affectingness on the stage. The overwhelming force of the play's crucial scenes could not have derived from the stirring facts alone, nor from playwright Gibson's vivid use of them. What proves decisive is the extraordinary performances, the magnificent teamwork of Anne Bancroft and ten-year-old Patty Duke, and the brilliant direction of Arthur Penn". While noting some of the play's flaws, particularly in the areas of "some knotty Keller family relationships and some eerie Sullivan family memories", which it characterized as "fairly makeshift, at times clumsy, and, when sound-tracking voices from the past, occasionally embarrassing", it praised the scenes that "in the hands of two remarkable actresses, constitute unforgettable theater".{{cite magazine|author=Time writers|title=The Theater: New Plays on Broadway, Nov. 2, 1959|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892828,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421134655/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892828,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 21, 2008|magazine=Time|date=November 2, 1959}}

The New York Times in its review titled "Giver of Light" also praised the "glorious performance" of Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke's "wonderfully truthful and touching" performance as Helen, along with those of Patricia Neal and Torin Thatcher as Helen's parents. While finding similar flaws in the narrative structure of the play, it praised the play as "profoundly moving" and noted that any of its failings did not "destroy the emotional power of the essential struggle in the drama".{{cite news | first = Brooks | last = Atkinson | title = Theatre: Giver of Light | date = October 20, 1959 | url = http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/theater/Miracle-Worker.pdf | work = The New York Times | pages = 44 | access-date = July 22, 2010 | archive-date = November 11, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121111055044/http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/theater/Miracle-Worker.pdf | url-status = live}}

Screen adaptations

Gibson, Penn, Bancroft, and Duke reunited for a 1962 film adaptation which was highly acclaimed. Gibson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Penn was nominated as Best Director, and both Bancroft (portraying Sullivan) and Duke (portraying Keller) won the Academy Award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. The play has been adapted for TV twice, first in 1979 with Duke as Sullivan and Melissa Gilbert as Helen and in 2000 with Alison Elliott as Sullivan and Hallie Kate Eisenberg as Helen. It's been adapted for Italian (RAI 1968) and Spanish (TVE, 1978).

Awards and nominations

=Original Broadway production=

class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 99%;"
scope="col" style="width:5%;"\| Year ! scope="col" style="width:20%;"\| Award ! scope="col" style="width:38%;"\| Category ! scope="col" style="width:22%;"\| Nominee ! scope="col" style="width:10%;"\| Result
rowspan="6" align="center"\| 1960 \| rowspan="5"\| Tony Awards \| Best Play \| William Gibson \| {{won}}
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play \| Anne Bancroft \| {{won}}
Best Direction of a Play \| Arthur Penn \| {{won}}
Best Scenic Design \| George C. Jenkins \| {{nom}}
Best Stage Technician \| John Walters \| {{won}}
colspan=2\| Theatre World Award \| Patty Duke \| {{won}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 99%;"

scope="col" style="width:5%;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:20%;"| Award

! scope="col" style="width:38%;"| Category

! scope="col" style="width:22%;"| Nominee

! scope="col" style="width:10%;"| Result

rowspan="6" align="center"| 1960

| rowspan="5"| Tony Awards

| Best Play

| William Gibson

| {{won}}

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play