The first production in which a deaf-blind actress portrays Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" will be performed at Colby College on Saturday, October 23. The Cleveland Signstage Theater's production, part of the 1999-2000 Performing Arts at Colby season, will be staged in Strider Theater at 8 p.m. General admission is $3, students and seniors are $2. For ticket information call the box office at 872-3358 between 4-6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday of performance week or 872-3388 at all other times. For TTY (text telephone) service call 872-3877 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Or tickets may be reserved online.

"The Miracle Worker," by William Gibson, is the inspiring story of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. Signstage's cast includes deaf and hearing actors and is presented simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English for deaf and hearing audience members. A. J. Granda is the first deaf blind actress to portray Helen Keller.

Cleveland Signstage was founded in 1975 by one deaf and one hearing actor to establish a unique form of theater that integrates the experiences of two distinct cultures. One of only three professional deaf theaters in the country, Signstage has established a reputation for bringing to the stage a new expression of theater for both deaf and hearing individuals. Combining the beauty of American Sign Language, the imagination of mime and the richness of theatrical text, Signstage has nurtured a new art form by developing the distinctive technique of sign language theatre.