The world recedes as the box of darkness closes in. Sound, once familiar, turns to silence. Your voice resounds with words only few understand. This is a lonely place where only the initiated can step; seeing the world through beat and hearing music through vibration.
Welcome to the world of Hellen Keller — the American author, activist and lecturer.
Her life story will play out on The Junction’s stage between April 27 and April 29. William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker, based on her autobiography, Story of My Life, centres on the dynamics of Keller and her lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan. It was staged before, in January, just this year, but positive feedback has encouraged a second stint.
Keller was born with sight and hearing, but an ailment at 19 months robbed her of those faculties. The only one who could break through this muffling barrier was Sullivan, who was blind herself. The teacher taught her how to speak using her palm as a slate; how to communicate using words; how to live, therefore, with dignity; and how to open up her world.
The thought of a child floating in a sea of darkness is a formidable one.
For director Jimish Thakkar telling this story was a project close to his heart. “Being a father of two and a drama educator it [the story] hit the right nerve. Each theme is reflective of our busy lives. How family dynamics influence life decisions. How one person’s determination and perseverance can change these dynamics and affect everyone involved... Directing the play has given me an opportunity to introspect my understanding of each of the themes and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to stage it,” he says in a statement.
But to teach a young person the nuances of a vacuum-filled life is a challenge. One that hasn’t fazed the group, but did require effort. Kids can be great actors; they take the brief and run with it, explains Thakkar.
He recalled, in an interview with Gulf News tabloid! his brief to ten-year-old Mehr Thakkar: “My brief to her was, ‘Why don’t we move away from our little planet Earth and move to an altogether different planet?’, because you can’t draw a parallel of her living in a different country... where we don’t know what kind of people exist, what kind of light there is…you don’t know the form, the language…it was trying to be as abstract as possible…and then telling her to ask for something.”
The director went so far as to blindfold the young actor through most rehearsals to simulate that feeling of helplessness and to lend authenticity to her portrayal.
It must be scary to suddenly shut off from everything you know. She says, “Well first it was hard as I reacted to sounds and actions but after some time I got used to it.
“[But] I had to be so careful, trying not to react like I normally do. I had to always remind myself that Helen never knew what sight and sound were. With constant practice though I did manage to wrap my head around things pretty quickly.”
Story of My Life and its subjects, the unassailable Keller and her tough compatriot Sullivan, have inspired many movies, including 1962 film The Miracle Worker and Bollywood drama Black, where Amitabh Bachchan plays an eccentric, tough-as-nails teacher. It’s testament to the fact that this tale is a lesson in grit. “Their story is one of hope, persistence and finally success. It will inspire even the most hardhearted person and make them stop and think about what you can achieve if you put your heart and soul into it,” explains Humera Sultana, who plays Sullivan.
For her role, the actress draws on her encounter with teachers and parents of children with special needs. “ The strength and courage it takes to deal with special needs children and yet they handle [everything] with such hope and grace.”
Being able to express a gambit of emotions, without turning it into a caricature is the tough task though, she says. “These are real issues [dealing] with real people and this topic needs to be handled very respectfully.”
The same is true for both actors Priyanka Johri and Satyen Chandiramani, who play the mother and father of a socially disconnected young Keller.
Johri explains the importance of direction here by remembering an instance at practice. “While I was rehearsing a scene without Helen Keller, he [Thakkar] had Mehr sit with a box of toys and throw each one out in different directions so that I would learn to focus on the scene at hand and always have Helen in my line of sight as a protective mother. This effort and dedication [of the director] is what makes this production exceptional.”
But that’s not all that makes this production unusual. The play aims to drain light and colour — quite literally — from your line of sight. The sets are bathed in monotone; from furniture and lighting to make-up. By removing the extraneous details and creating a sparse world, the makers want to draw you in and muffle you in darkness, before viewing the cathartic progress of Keller. The makers want you to emotionally invest.
And it’s probably inevitable. To see a lost, scared, young person find her confidence is world where everyone else seems in on a secret she doesn’t know exists is an underdog story at its best.
“It’s amazing what inspiration, tolerance, acceptance and perseverance can lead you to in life — It can really even be a Miracle! Helen Keller’s story should be known to all people around the world as it stands as one of the most inspiring ones that I have had the good fortune of bringing to life on stage,” says Chandiramani.
For now: Let there be light.
Don’t miss it!
William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker, runs between April 27 and April 29 at The Junction, Dubai.
Tickets start at Dh100.
