The Wenatchee High School Drama Club prepares for its annual spring production. Set to open on March 19 and run through March 22 in the WHS auditorium, it will be the first dramatic play the club has put on in four years because of the rigorous character development actors must undergo to portray such complex people.

The Miracle Worker tickets go on sale Feb. 19. All shows start at 7:30 pm, except for a matinee on March 22 with a 2 pm starting time. Tickets are $10, with a special student and senior price for $5 on Wed. and Thurs. only. Profits go the the WHS Drama Club.

The Miracle Worker, a three-act play by William Gibson, based on Helen Keller’s autobiography The Story of My Life, is a true drama. Cast in the completely physical, and almost nonverbal role of Helen Keller is senior Catherine Ross.

“It’s definitely a challenge to try and imagine what it’s like to not see and hear,” Ross said. “I feel honored. She was an exceptional person.”

Opposite Ross in the role of Annie Sullivan, governess and teacher of Helen Keller, is junior Maddy Atwood. Sullivan, using discipline, persistence and language through hand signals, worked tirelessly with Keller.

“It’s added pressure portraying a real person,” Atwood said. “You don’t want them to seem silly.”

Throughout the show while trying to teach Helen how to communicate, Annie must engage her in fierce physical battles. For Ross and Atwood, this is one of the most difficult parts of their characters.

“The hardest part is having to pretend like you’re blind and how you’d really move,” Ross said. “There’s lots of invasion of personal space by touching peoples faces and stuff, which can be weird.”

As intimate and struggling the performance may be, production heads have more expectations for students.

“It’s a learning experience for all of our students,” producer Selina Danko said. “Not only in theater terms, but in meeting the daily challenges of everyone.”