Miracle Worker

Cast of Characters:

Helen Keller (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) a six-and-a-half year old daughter of Kate and Arthur who is left deaf and blind after a serious illness as an infant. Despite her handicaps, she's a girl of exceptional intellect and cleverness.

Anne Sullivan (Alison Elliot) she is a very kind and hard-working governess.the miracle worker to which the title of the play refers.

Captain Arthur Keller (David Strathaim) a hearty gentleman in his forties. He is a newspaper publisher who possesses much power, both in the business world and in his own home. Nothing is done and no decisions are made in the Keller household without his consent.

Kate Keller (Kate Greenhouse) a young gentlewoman with a sweet girlish face. She is patient and gentle with Helen.

James Keller (Luca Black) Captain Keller’s son from a previous marriage, he's an indolent young man. He is often flippant and sarcastic, largely due to his inner turmoil. He helped Annie to prove to Captain Keller that she is a capable teacher.

Aunt Ev (Patricia Gage) a benign visitor who serves as a catalyst for the Kellers’s first contact with the Perkins Institute. She's a talkative woman who often tries to be helpful, but who can be a bit intrusive.

Percy (Kevin Duhaney) is a young African-American child who seems to be a bit older than Martha.

Martha (Stephanie Sams) a young African-American child, she is playful and curious, and can also be a bit bossy, especially with Percy.

Viney (Jackie Richardson) an African-American woman and a servant in charge of the daily housework and meals in the Keller household. She is cheerful, practical, and very adept at her job.

Jimmie (Liam Robinson) Annie’s dead younger brother and the stongest of all the offstage voices.

Anagnos - a stocky bearded man, he is Annie’s counselor at the Perkins Institution for the Blind. He places Annie in the Kellers’s home as a governess for Helen. He is loving and kind to Annie, but he can also be stern when necessary.

Plot Summary:
The Miracle Worker is a story about a six and a half years old girl named Helen who happens to be a deaf and blind. Since no doctors can help her Captain and Kate decides to write Dr. Chilsom. Apparently, Dr. Chilsom has nothing to do for the young girl because of that Dr. Anagnos places Annie Sullivan to be a governess for Helen. At first Annie refuses the decision of being Helen's teacher but she changes her mind and accept the Doctor's command. Arriving to Alabama, Annie is meet by Kate and James at the train station. Kate is anxious because of Annie's youth, but Annie affirms to her that her youthfu energy will help in the task ahead. The two begin to warm each other. Back to Keller home, Annie annoys the Captain by refusing to let him take her suitcase. As she meets Helen, Annie immediately bring Helen to her room and starts to teach Helen her first lesson. While Kate is appreciating what she just seen, it appease the Captain. Upstairs, Annie teaches Helen to hand-spell the things she want to get. Helen outsmarted Annie by hiting her face with the doll, Helen rushes out the room immediately locking her in. After dinner Annie finds Helen at her favorite place. Thinking she is alone that time, Helen get the missing bedroom key from her mouth and joyfully drops it down the small hole of the water pump. Helen spills and breaks the things inside Annie's room. Using sign language, Annie spells the name of the things inside her room to Helen's hand. At breakfast, Helen's improper behavior sparks a confrontation between Captain and Annie, who insists that all indulgence of Helen must stop. Annie requests to isolae herself and Helen in the garden house for an entire week. Annie' plan is to make Helen become dependent to her for everything, thus forcing Helen to communicate with her and opening the only way for her to truly become Helen's teacher. Being left alone with Annie, Helen subsides exhausted. Helen does not let Annie touch her, but Annie gets her curiosity by teaching Percy hand-spelling which helped her re-etablish their communication. Annie frustratedly feels that she has accomplished little more than she expected to. Annie begs for another week, but the Kellers refused it after eeing the improvements to Helen behavior and learnings, since Annie's request is not granted she insits of keeping Helen until five, but as the time dwindles we see the harrowing effect of the ordeal to Annie. Helen does not show love and signs that she's interested even if Annie desperately spells more words into her hands. At the strike of five, Kate claims Helen and carries her, and Annie, alone at the end of her struggle remembers again her yourger brother, Jimmie.
Returned to her family, Helen acts just like before at dinner, and the family still indulges her depite their assurance to Annie that they would not. Helen throws a pitcher of water to Annie while push her to grab Helen asking her to refill the pitcher. In the yard, Annie is forcing Helen to pump water, while spelling w-a-t-e-r into her hand. Helen has the breakthrough that Annie has prayed for, and runs around the yard touching, and learning from Annie the names of the things around her. Annie calls out the Kellers telling them that Helen learns to spell mother and father. Helen gropes her way across the yard to Annie, to learn what her name but Annie spells it to her as teacher. Helen shows the depth of the miracle of her undertanding by getting from her mother the keys Annie had used to lock her in, and giving it to Annie. Annie, spells into Helen’s hand, I love Helen. Then they cross the yard hand in hand.

Reaction:
The film shows how a teacher's love can bring miracles to their students, it also shows the characteristics a teacher shoud always have. Most of all it shows how powerful teachers are in influencing their students. Based on these the lesson that the film would like to empart to us are we should always have the patience to teach our students no matter what happen or what ever circumstances we encounter while teaching, being a teacher we should not let our students learning limit to the four walls or the room nor by different books we must teach them not only the things they must know but also the things that the book can not rovide like valuing and experience. We must help our students to fulfill and reach for their goals and encourage them to pursue their learning. We should not be the first to lose hope for all the stuggles we encounter must be the one and ony model for our students in a sense that we should show them that we are not teaching them the things they must know with out even doing it for ourself. Even if the film shows some values a teacher should practice it also shows negative traits which a teacher should not have like hurting our students both in verbal and non-verbal apects and demanding them to understand the lesson in a very short span of time because we should consider all the apects that can affect our students learning such as their ability, skills and capability to learn, aside from that not all our students are smart enough to understand us in just a snap of a hand there are some times that we will encounter some students who are not intelligent enough like those who are in lower section. Lastly, we must also check the student's background like what kind of family he/she has and how his famiy affect their studies, does the parents affect the student's learning positively or negatively, we must always chek our students whether they are doing great or not. We must be one of those people that affects our students for their own good.