The Miracle Worker 1959 - Articles Page 71.4

Immortalized on screen by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, this Tony Award-winning play is the story of Annie Sullivan and her student, Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing at the age of 19 months. With compassion, humor and dramatic tension, The Miracle Worker explores the volatile relationship between a lonely teacher and her headstrong charge.



Trapped in a secret, silent world, unable to communicate, young Helen is violent and spoiled, treated by her family as subhuman. Only Annie sees a mind and spirit waiting to be rescued from Helen's dark, tortured silence. After scenes of intense physical and emotional struggle, Helen's breakthrough finally arrives with the utterance of a single, glorious word: "water."