Take one young, experienced Massachusetts actress. Pair her with a 10-year-old Warwick actress.

What do you get? An emotional, professional double-whammy performance, filled with the gritty interaction needed to make William Gibson’s classic play about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, a big success.

Brittany Rolfs plays the legally blind, inexperienced 20-year-old Boston woman who is hired by a Southern family to teach their deaf and blind daughter, played admirably by Laurel McMahon.

I had seen this powerful play done in-the-round, close-up and personal and worried about the loss of intimacy between audience and actors on the proscenium stage. Thankfully, the chemistry between Rolfs and McMahon drew us quickly into their relationship.

You know the story. Young woman struggles to find a way to teach an incorrigible, wild girl who has been spoiled by her parents, eventually finding a way to reach her.

Gibson’s story wanders a bit over the strained relationship between father and son, but quickly pulls itself back to the subjects at hand, thanks to some tight direction by Amiee Turner.

McMahon doesn’t have to learn any lines, but she sure needs to make her character believable. Her struggles with her teacher are physically challenging, as she raises tantrums at the dinner table and beyond. It is a monumental performance.

The closing scene at the water pump will leave you with a tear in your eye, or at least a few goosebumps, as Annie Sullivan’s young charge takes her first step toward becoming the remarkable woman we know of as Helen Keller.

“The Miracle Worker” is at Warwick’s Ocean State Theatre Company, 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, through April 17. Tickets are $34-$49, with $25 rush tickets available on a limited basis one hour before the performance. Call 921-6800 for reservations.

Warwick actress

focused on acting

I sat down with Warwick actress Laurel McMahon after her preview performance as the young Helen Keller in Ocean State Theatre’s “The Miracle Worker.”

Laurel is a fifth grader at Warwick’s St. Rose of Lima School, but she wasn’t in class that day. It was press night, and director Amiee Turner was going over those minor little tweaks to tighten up the play.

Laurel has theatre in her blood, as does her entire family.

“My two older sisters are actresses,” she said, “and I was in my first play when I was in kindergarten.”

Starting with “Seussical the Musical” in kindergarten, Laurel has gone on to act in Trinity’s “A Christmas Carol” and perform with Manhattan Music Man Productions and the Rhode Island Youth Theatre.

You may remember her as Young Cosette and Young Eponine in “Les Miserables,” the Balloon Girl in “Gypsy” and in the ensemble in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” all at Ocean State Theatre.

“This is my first [straight] play,” she said. “I love to sing, and I love musicals. I really enjoyed working with Amiee. She’s very nice.”

Is it hard acting like you are blind and deaf?

“Yes. I have to stay focused. If I wander, I look down at the ground and bring it back,” she said.

Public Relations Director Karen Kessler said that Laurel is well beyond her years, a bright student whose teacher helps her keep up with her schoolwork while rehearsing and performing and whose parents and family are very supportive.

Did I mention that Laurel has 10 siblings?

As her mother came to pick her up at the theatre, I told her that she had quite a family.

“That’s an understatement,” she replied.

Keep your eye on this young lady as she pursues a career in the theatre.