Posted 9/5/01 ëMiracle Workerí inaugurates fall season at Festival Theatre St. Croix Festival Theatre will inaugurate its fall season on Thursday, Sept. 6, with the opening of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. Set in Alabama in the 1880s, this beloved stage classic dramatizes the inspiring true story of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Helen, still a young girl in the play, has lost her sight and hearing to a childhood illness and is growing up unable to communicate with her family. Frustrated by her double disability, she disrupts the Keller household with unruly behavior and frequent tantrums. Annie, a 20-year-old graduate of a Boston school for the blind, is stubbornly determined to penetrate the darkness and silence that shroud the girlís lively mind. But before she can succeed in teaching Helen, Annie must teach the Keller family a new way of thinking about the deaf, blind child and her wealth of untapped potential. Festival Theatreís production of The Miracle Worker will feature some new faces as well as several actors familiar to Festival audiences from the just concluded summer season. Viterbo University undergraduate Sarah Goldstein makes her Festival Theatre debut in the challenging role of Helen, who must express herself through the entire play without speaking. Co-Artistic Director Kate Riley (Rita in Educating Rita, Catherine in The Foreigner) plays Annie. Deanna deCampos, another Festival newcomer, plays Helenís heartbroken mother, and Chris OíCarroll (Frank in Educating Rita) returns to play the girlís bitter, disappointed father. Co-Artistic director Pat Placzkowski (David in The Foreigner, Dr. Moulineaux in A Gown for His Mistress). Several area youthsñJennifer R. Benoy, of St. Croix Falls, Katherine Burns-Penn of St. Croix Falls, Clayton Hendricks of Osceola, and Peter Wells of Dresser ñ appear in the roles of Helenís young playmates. Director Joe Ametrano promises that this production will highlight the playís hearty comedy as well as its poignant relationships and uplifting message about the indomitable human spirit. The Miracle Worker will run through Sept. 22, with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, and 22; a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Sept. 13 & 16; and special 10 a.m. productions for student audiences on Sept. 11 and 12. For further information, please call Festival Theatre at 715-483-3387 or 888-887-6002. ©Post Review