When he gets there, Kate says, “ can’t see Or hear. Kate screams for the Captain to come back into the room. As Kate talks to her daughter, she is gripped with the realization that Helen isn’t responding to her voice, or to the hand she waves above the baby’s face. The doctor and the Captain exit, leaving Kate alone with Helen.

The doctor says that Helen will fully recover, and “by morning she’ll be knocking down Captain Keller’s fences again” (5). Their 19-month-old child, Helen, has just survived a serious case of scarlet fever. The play opens in 1882 at the home of Captain and Kate Keller in Tuscumbia, Alabama. And Anne Sullivan, or Annie, in the midst of fighting for Helen to have a better life, learns to love again. The Kellers learn that Helen is capable of more than they ever dared to imagine. Though the Keller family and Annie Sullivan are in constant conflict at the beginning of the play, they learn a great deal from each other by the end. Language, whether it is spoken, written, or signed, is depicted as the key to unlocking a world of possibilities for anyone, regardless of whether they have a disability. It is a love letter to the teachers who never give up, even when their students seem beyond reach. The Miracle Worker dramatizes the true story of Helen Keller, a girl from Alabama who was blind and deaf, and Anne Sullivan, the woman who taught her language. The edition referenced in this guide is the Samuel French Acting Edition. Helen, underestimated at every turn, learns to unlock the world before her through the power of language, and of love. The play is significant in its centering of a real-life heroine with a disability. Most notable is the annual summer production performed at Helen Keller’s birthplace, and where she met Annie Sullivan: Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Gibson credits inspiration for the title to a quote by Mark Twain: “Helen is a miracle, and Miss Sullivan is the miracle-worker.” Since its debut, the play has been widely performed at regional and professional theaters alike. The show received five Tony Award nominations in 1960 and won four, including Best Play. The staged production premiered in New York City at the Playhouse Theatre in 1959. The play follows a three-act structure and was adapted from Gibson’s 1957 Playhouse 90 teleplay. William Gibson’s drama The Miracle Worker chronicles the relationship between the real-life Helen Keller, a young girl from Alabama who was blind and deaf, and her teacher, the Irish, headstrong Annie Sullivan from Boston.

The miracle worker gibson