I sat in my seat in the refurbished Northcott Theatre unsure quite what I was expecting. Not being familiar with The Miracle Worker, I had done some internet research to find out a basic plot outline and to look into the historical Helen Keller, so I was intrigued to discover how this play would be realised.

The play itself raises many questions, not least about disability, but also about the relationships between men and women in 1880s America, and issues of North and South in the US. It was thus marvellously apt for the Guild-organised Diversity Week: Jen Hall, Guild Disabled Students Rep, saw the first night’s performance and was delighted by the play’s link with Diversity Week and impressed by the production.

The first element of the production that caught my eye was, unsurprisingly, Sarah Prentice’s set. EUTCo’s set-builders had made a full-size frame of a house with back wall, but missing front and sides so that you could see into the living spaces in the house itself. Cleverly symbolic of the way we were looking into the personal lives and private relationships of the characters, the set summed up the play that would follow.

Helen Keller was played wonderfully by Emily Deacon and was wholly convincing as a deaf-blind child throughout. Not once did her concentration lapse and allow us to remember that she was actually a hearing and seeing student. The moments between Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan (Sam Baines) were tender and insightful, with both actresses conveying the emotional difficulties and strains of their characters. The sometimes comic script allowed both to perform to the full and provide a convincing performance.

The supporting cast showed how much rehearsal time had been dedicated to perfecting their reactions to Helen because their responses consistently made us think that Helen was deaf-blind. At times, the characterisation was inconsistent and revealed lapses in concentration but this can easily be forgiven in light of the difficult play and the nerves of an opening night. The play did not neglect Annie Sullivan’s past and mental state and Isley Lynn dealt with these dream sequences very cleverly using stylised dance and physical theatre, combined with lighting and sound effects, to indicate that we were witnessing a hallucination.

All in all, this year’s EUTCo Northcott production was an enjoyable performance about a delightfully mischievous character. I am looking forward to seeing more challenging theatre in Exeter.

***
Chris Richards