Rating: 
Summary: I'M TIRED OF THE WATER PUMP
Review: This play, which was the basis for three movies (1961, 1979 and 2000) is a well written dramatization of Helen Keller's life prior to her teacher, Anne Sullivan's arrival. Blind and deaf since infancy, Helen had no ready access to communication. Enter Annie, a Perkins School for the Blind alum who strives to teach her rebellious young charge the manual alphabet as well as rudimentary table manners. As well as this work is written, it, like so many other works on Helen Keller, lags at that darn water pump where Helen finally learns that all things have a name. The momentum that pushed the story along comes to a grinding halt at that tired water pump scene. It is a let down that this play stalls at this point because Helen and Annie had such an interesting impact on history based on their work and lives together. I would have rated this 5 stars, but the play lags and drags at that darn water pump and gives minimal attention to Helen's linguistic/cognitive progress from that minute forward. It seems kind of sad that so many works about Helen get lost at the water pump, never to move forward.
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