Actors, set contribute to 'miraculous' performance

The last play of the semester is one that has forever lived on in the hearts of many. With the current production of UNO's "The Miracle Worker," it is no exception to this rule, and rivals the movie and high-class community plays in terms of quality and performance."The Miracle Worker" is the real-life story of Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf from a very young age. The time-honored tale is set in Alabama back in the mid-1880s and focuses on Keller family's struggle to teach and keep Helen under control. The family ends up hiring Annie Sullivan to care for her in hopes that she will learn how to communicate with them. Over the course of the story, Helen learns sign language and how to control her outbursts while growing to love Annie as her mentor.

The acting in this play was the best I had ever seen. Two of the actors made this play truly astounding. Helen Keller, played by Amy Schweid, was absolutely phenomenal. There were times I thought she was really blind and deaf. She played this character so well that I would rate her performance above some well-known Broadway actresses.

Christopher Harris, who was cast for the role of Captain Keller, had an exceptional performance, too. The audience could definitely tell that his character was irritated by his facial expressions, and he was irate throughout most of the play. But this was the nature of his character and Harris played it well.

The staging of fights as well as the sound effects were right on target, too. When Helen and Annie (played by Amanda Waldron) were slapping each other, it seemed fairly real with their timing.

During this production, Annie experienced memories and flashbacks that were portrayed in a unique way. These scenes were behind a black netting with a light to show that they were a faded presence. This helped set the proper feel for reminiscence.

However, I thought the transitions between scenes were a bit fast in the beginning of the play, but got better in the third act. It went from nighttime to breakfast before the audience could adjust to the lights fading out.

The design of the set was extremely detailed. The ground off the porch looked like red dirt, a common staple in Alabama, and the floor of the garden house was painted to look like the floor on the main stage. The house had three levels and a hanging roof that was gutted to give the play more of a three-dimensional feeling.

There were some minor setbacks of the set design, though. A few of the seats were slightly blocked and the hanging roof did block some of what was happening on the bedroom level from my view. It was not a major problem, but it was a slight nuisance and did take away from viewing what was going in the play.

During the third act, I was locked into this play and couldn't look away. The end almost brought a tear to my eye and concluded with a standing ovation from the audience. There was not a single patron sitting during the curtain call.

Everyone, including myself, seemed to love this play. One patron even said she was going to come back and see it again the following night.

For those that can find the time to see it, "The Miracle Worker" is certainly worth your time and effort to check out.