2008 Woodie Awards
'Miracle Worker' displays talent, importance of words
Amy Penprase, Ranger Reporter
Issue date: 3/4/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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The Amarillo College Lamplight Youth Theater presented The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Feb. 25-27.
The play is about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, who is trying to teach the blind, deaf girl language. The play shows the hardships the two of them and Helen's family face attempting to tame Helen and make her understand words.
Cyndie Koetting, director of the AC Lamplight Youth Theater the past eight months, teaches 11 classes each week. This is her fourth production with the company. About 140 students are involved with the theater, and 28 were involved with The Miracle Worker.
Koetting said about her job, "It's a full-time position, and I teach five stages of acting. It's an after-school program for 8- to 18-year-olds."
For children, The Miracle Worker was a serious play, full of drama.
"I wanted to challenge them.," Koetting said. "They really took it to heart, bringing it to life. This is a wonderful family of kids."
Danae Thompson, a homeschooled ninth grader, played Kate Keller, Helen's mother. She wants to pursue acting after high school. "It's different than any character I've played," Thompson said. She said she likes acting because "you can be anything."
She plans to audition for the next production, Guys and Dolls, which will be performed May 6-8.
The actors practice four to five times a week for about six weeks to bring a play to fruition. The students do everything from designing the costumes, to researching the play and setting up the stage.
Pat Macmillian, an employee at the American Quarter Horse Association and an audience member, enjoyed the play and said the actors are talented.
"I thought it was superb," Macmillian said. "It brought me to tears and made my nose run. Annie (played by Mandy Alling) did a wonderful job."
The character Annie Sullivan says, "We are given words like wings. We just have to learn how to use them." Language is an instrument that has allowed traditions, stories and history to be passed down from generation to generation. The play stresses the importance of words - whether written, spoken or felt in your hands.