What would it be like to be blind, deaf and living in a time period devoid of tolerance?

That’s the question Piet Knetsch had to ask himself when preparing to direct Lawrence Community Theatre’s production of “The Miracle Worker,” the historical play about Helen Keller and her stormy relationship with Annie Sullivan, the strong-willed teacher who performed the “miracle” of teaching Helen language.

The answer, he found out, isn’t immediately obvious.

“It’s difficult to portray the character of Helen, given the fact that for most of us it’s difficult to imagine being both deaf and blind and how a child who’s never really experienced the world since she was an infant would, in fact, experience the world,” he says. “Hopefully we do it with a level of authenticity and honesty.”

Knetsch and his cast worked with members of the blind and deaf communities to grasp a better understanding of what Keller must have experienced. Susan Tabor, assistant coordinator of volunteers at Audio-Reader, spoke with the cast about being blind. She says that in the 1880s, when Helen Keller was a child, families would just as soon hide their disabled children as send them to a specialized school. Also, because there were no anti-discrimination laws, disabled citizens often were taunted or robbed of opportunity.

Tabor also taught 10-year-old Sally Spurgeon, the Baldwin resident who plays Helen, the more practical aspects of being blind.

Baldwin resident Sally Spurgeon, 10, left, portrays Helen Keller in a pivotal learning scene with her teacher, Annie Sullivan, played by Barbara Johnson, of Lawrence, during a Monday rehearsal for The

“I have to remember not to look at people, so that’s a little complicating,” Spurgeon says. “And I’m having some problems with sounds, because she makes really guttural sounds. But I’m having a lot of fun.”

Gush of recognition

Helen Keller was born in the deep South in 1880 and, in infancy, was struck blind and deaf. “The Miracle Worker,” picks up when Annie Sullivan, a young, freshly educated Northern teacher, moves in with the Keller family. Before Annie’s arrival, Helen was stubborn, aggressive and often violent toward her passive parents.

Annie’s attempts to first discipline her unruly pupil then teach her the seemingly impossible task of communication lead to violent clashes that culminate in an all-out skirmish. In one scene, Helen and Annie fling food at one another and drag each other across the stage for 10 intense minutes.

Despite this battle of wills, Annie refuses to give up. She spells out letters in the palm of Helen’s hand in hope that she’ll connect words with objects. In the most famous scene of the play, Helen does just that: As water gushes over her hands, Annie signs the letters W-A-T-E-R into the girl’s palm, and, for the first time, Helen understands.

Special interest

“The Miracle Worker” is sponsored by Bill and Janet Muggy, owners of the Jayhawk Bookstore. The couple is providing audio describers for the April 7 performance and signers for the April 8 performance in order to aid audience members with visual and hearing impairments. They also are providing free tickets to audience members with disabilities who want to attend.

Keller (Spurgeon) feels the hands of her teacher (Johnson) during a communication lesson.

Tabor says that experiencing a play without an audio describer is entertaining, but somewhat challenging, especially during nonverbal scenes.

“You have to use your detective skills a bit more, which I’m used to doing, so I don’t mind,” she says. Having a good audio describer there, Tabor says, just makes connecting with the play easier.

Bill Muggy, whose son Nate was a signer for the deaf before his death in 1999, sees his contribution as an extended memorial to his son, who melded signing with a passion for photography.

“He put the two together and was frequently known to come up with some incredible photographic shots of strobe-type photography that could literally show an entire word or phrase being signed,” Muggy says. A collection of Nate’s artwork will be displayed in the lobby of the theater during performances.

Aside from sponsoring the play, Muggy is a fan.

Anagnos, played by George Smith, and Annie, played by Barbara Johnson, rehearse a scene from The

“It’s significant in the realm of both theater and history,” he says. “It’s something that every individual should have had some type of exposure to : the experiences of walking in somebody else’s shoes to the extent that you can do it.”

‘Powerful human story’

Barbara Johnson, the Lawrence resident who plays Annie Sullivan, has been walking in Annie’s shoes for months. Between extensive research and a recently acquired Irish accent, Johnson truly has immersed herself in the role. She says that Annie and Helen’s final scenes, in which the pair form a deep emotional bond, are so powerful that audiences won’t leave the theater dry-eyed.

“At the end, the final scene, people are just going to cry so much,” Johnson says. “Helen and I made our director cry, our assistant director cry, we made our lighting girl cry … so, it really is a very powerfully moving story.”

Though Knetsch’s initial concerns may have been to portray Helen’s disabilities accurately, he now sees “The Miracle Worker” as a story that transcends the barriers of sight and sound.

“To me it’s a very powerful, powerful human story, besides the fact that it’s based on historical human figures, which is wonderful and beautiful,” Knetsch says. “But even if it weren’t, it’s just a wonderful story of human relationships.”