Photo, Joan Marcus Alison Pill and Abigail Breslin star in "The Miracle Worker."

By John Soltes / Editor in Chief

NEW YORK (March 12, 2010) — The story that is brought to life in "The Miracle Worker" is one that most people know by heart. Annie Sullivan and her pupil, Helen Keller, are American icons, their trials and tribulations the subject of history books and school assemblies. This makes any revival or retelling of the true-life story both welcoming and nerve-racking. Forget about living up to previous interpretations. What about the simple challenge of living up to the legacies of these two extraordinary women?

Well, the recently-opened Broadway revival achieves a respectful bow to history and is a perfect inroad to rediscovering the inspiration of Annie and Helen. This is not Lifetime-Original-Series material; it's visceral theater that lingers after the final blackout. Simple, yet powerful.

Annie (played in this production by Alison Pill), a 20-year-old teacher, takes the blind and deaf Helen (a masterful Abigail Breslin) under her tutelage and makes it her mission to help the young student realize her full potential.

In the play, being revived at the Circle in the Square in New York City, the emotion of Annie's quest and Helen's triumph remain intact. There are few dry eyes after the two-hour performance. But these are earned tears.

Helen doesn't speak during the play. Instead, she relies on her other senses to move about the surroundings, grasping for a door or relying on the safety of the floor. Breslin embodies Helen in a highly physical performance that is so inspired it almost seems devotional. She doesn't go for the easy road by masking the character in strung-together "awww" moments. Her Helen is more realistic; she is a young girl infused with energy and stubbornness.

Although her parents (played by the passable Matthew Modine and Jennifer Morrison) might victimize her, Annie treats her with a dignified strictness, though not without reservations. In many ways, "The Miracle Worker," as the title suggests, is the teacher's story. For it is her dedication and unconventional training (almost in a Pavlovian manner) that become the central dilemma. Is Annie being too hard? How does one measure success? When Helen begins understanding language, or simply when she learns to fold a napkin before eating?

Pill takes some time to settle into the role. At first, she has the air of a Mary Poppins-like nanny, swooping in with her atypical ways. But once she meets Helen, the play kicks into high emotional gear and the miracles start to develop. And watching the elemental evolution of Helen's progress is thrilling. Her small achievements are not treated like a montage, but rather as uncompromising reality. Even until the very end of the play, Annie struggles. Catharsis certainly comes, but it's with a knowledge that the teacher and pupil have only reached a plateau, not the top of the mountain.

Modine and Morrison try their best with the parental roles, but they are the victim of weak writing and cliché occurrences. Even though they are the ones who first hire Annie and certainly show an undying dedication to Helen, they somehow feel like too much of a hindrance, both in the story and in the play. The relationship between Annie and Helen is just too strong that any asides feel like intrusions.

Kate Whoriskey directs the piece with an able attachment to the story. The focus rightly stays on Helen and her progress. Because of the theater's unusual "theater-in-the-round" setting, some scenes are touchingly intimate within a few feet of sitting audience members. The problem is that at the same time the audience on the opposite side watches the backs of the characters. The sight lines can be difficult (choose your seats well).

The scenic design by Derek McLane is fitting, with the sets ascending and descending on wires suspended above the stage. The only unfortunate consequence of this artistic choice is that the tables and chairs largely do not move, because they are firmly attached to brackets. This makes dining room scenes rigid, with no one pulling out a chair.

William Gibson, who wrote the play, set out to tell the tale of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller with simple language. And that was the right move. Don't get in the way of this poignant story. This revival does the same. It's not earth-shattering or pushy. It is what it is. And that's enough, because Annie and Helen cannot fail to inspire.

"The Miracle Worker" is current playing the Circle in the Square at 235 W. 50th St. in New York City. Visit www.miracleworkeronbroadway.com for more information.