Pink I.D Card & Yellow Book

[bhatmasterson]

There isn't a lot of live theater in Chiang Mai but I've heard from reliable sources that this CMIS production is worth an evening out. I'm seeing it on Friday and will report back for those who enjoy live English language theater.

A Miracle Happens

An American Theater Classic, The Miracle Worker, By William Gibson is coming to Chiang Mai. November 14, 2011

----------------------------------------FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--------------------------------------------

Chiang Mai International School will present The Miracle Worker, the story of how Helen Keller, blind and deaf from infancy, prevails against overwhelming obstacles with the help of her teacher Annie Sullivan.

The play centers on the relationship between young Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing as an infant, and her teacher Annie Sullivan, who, through perseverance and guile, comes into Helen's world and brings her the gift of communication through sign language.

The play is being directed by Stephan Turner, theater arts teacher, who said, The story of The Miracle Worker, is one of the most inspirational and heartfelt of our time. But the play is about so much more than their relationship. All of the characters transform. They are trying to overcome obstacles in their own lives but cannot do so alone." That is the essential message of the play." Persevere and never give up!

Initially written for television, The Miracle Worker first aired in 1957. After it was warmly received by television audiences, it was rewritten for the stage and opened on Broadway in 1959. Although some of the reviews were mixed, the audience response was very favorable and during its run, the first production of The Miracle Worker rarely failed to fill the 1,000 seat theater.

Audiences found the story of Annie's struggle to teach Helen language and her eventual success, life affirming and uplifting. Surrounding the major themes of change, transformation, language and meaning is basic integrity and emotional honesty. These two elements are the strongest reasons that The Miracle Worker is so popular among audiences and has been called an American Theatre classic.

Dates and Times:

November 17 at 7 pm. November 18 at 7 pm. November 19 at 2 pm and 7 pm.

Location: CMIS Auditorium Chiang Mai International School

13 Chetupon Road, Chiang Mai

Phone: 053-306-15

Ticketst available in the school office: Adults 200, Students 100

[bhatmasterson]

Well I went to see "The Miracle Worker" tonight at CMIS which was very well attended and I was not at all disappointed. Being that it was a school production, my expectations for the evening were not quite as high as they may have been had I been seeing a presentation by Chiang Mai's Gate Theater Group, which to my knowledge, has been the only source of live English Language theater in the city for the last 3 to 4 years at lease.

This CMIS production of William Gibson's masterpiece, The Miracle Worker" is as superbly presented as is possible, given the circumstances under which it is being staged. First of all, This is Thailand, where a large percentage of people have never heard of Helen Keller so have no idea about the story her magnificent struggle to learn to communicate. Secondly, the show is presented on a small stage which has been extended out towards the audience to skillfully and artistically create several places; a dining room, an upstairs bedroom, a school for the blind, a train station, the exterior of a house and the interior of a summer house complete with a yard which has a working old fashioned water pump.

The students who act in this play do a great job of helping the audience suspend their disbelief. At times, it was very easy to forget that these were students playing adult roles.

The stand out character in the play is by far the young girl that plays the deaf, dumb and blind young Helen Keller. At intermission, I heard a child ask her parent if Helen was really blind. Other members of the cast do a good job as well. The girl who plays Annie Sullivan, Helen's teacher, is quite good as well as the student who plays Helen's mother Katie. Overall, each member of the cast had some good moments during the play.

There are 2 more performances tomorrow at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. I highly recommend this presentation to anyone who enjoys a night of Live English language theater.

[L&J]

Stephan Turner has directed an amazing production of The Miracle Worker with the students at CMIS.

There are only two performance left today (Sat. Nov. 19th) at 2:00 and 7:00PM and would suggest you get

there and get there at least a half hour early in order to get a ticket (200 baht).

The production could stand along with any professional performance, particularly given the difficulty of

having the young men trying to portray roles decades beyond their age. The female roles, from the housemaid

to the lead characters are superb. Could not imagine any young actress doing a more compelling job with the

Helen Keller role than Ilona Vandenhautte. The inspired casting of her sister Arunie as Annie Sullivan by Stephan

utilizes a chemistry between the two that is mesmerizing, if at times painful, to watch. Clarissa Shortland

in portraying Helen's mother does extremely well in supporting the two lead characters in way that never detracts

from the dynamics of their growing relationship. The young men do very good work given the difficult roles.

If you needed more there is an "uncredited" performance by a great little dog, who needs to get an agent to protect

its interests in the future.

Thank you Stephan, once again, for giving Chiang Mai a great theatrical experience.

You can view a few pictures from the production at the link below:

My link

http://ourworld.nongkway.com/the-miracle-worker

[realthaideal]

Sorry to have missed this school production ! What're the chances of added performances ?

Or will I just have to wait around until Gate Theater has their next production ready to go ?

[bhatmasterson]

Sorry to have missed this school production ! What're the chances of added performances ?

Or will I just have to wait around until Gate Theater has their next production ready to go ?

From what I understand the "Miracle Worker" has closed. There was some talk about The Gate taking over the show and moving it to their space and replacing some of the students with adults. But I don't know if that's still in the works.

I was also told that The Gate Theater Group had started rehearsals for "Blythe Spirit", a Noel Coward comedy, but the director had a stroke and so production stopped. They are now looking at taking "Driving Miss Daisy" to Chiang Rai for a performance or two before reopening for a 2 weekend run in Chiang Mai. In the mean time the Noel Coward play will start rehearsal again in the near future with a proposed opening date in late March.

I hope this is accurate information. I love the theater and I really don't understand why there isn't more of it in Chiang Mai as culturally diverse as this city is.