"MIRACLES" MAKES USBELIEVE

Who gets to define who we are as individuals? If it takes a village to raise a child, who is going to take the final responsibility when that child doesn't turn out exactly the way everyone wanted?

These are the kinds of questions stimulated by the fascinating production of Frank Higgins' "Miracles" now playing at Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Ave. At the heart of everyone's questions will be the exceptional performance of diminutive Rachael Lacy.

She plays Eve, an isolated 17-year-old confined by autism. Unable to communicate with others or relate to much about her environment she has been institutionalized by her widowed father. Lacy is totally convincing in her abilities to project the outward look of the illness that is so little understood but has become so prevalent today.

Yet "Miracles" is not about the condition so much as it is about the need of every human being to be motivated by hope, including Eve herself . As director, Susan Claassen keeps the developments clean and clear as we learn how autism affects the shared relationships of parent, child and teacher.

First we meet Tom (James Blair), who is Eve's widower father. A successful hippie turned successful lawyer, Tom has lost hope he will be able to enjoy any kind of a relationship with his daughter. Knowing his child is being cared for at an expensive institutional school in the Berkshire Mountains is the best Tom can do.

Then there is Kate (Betsy Kruse Craig), the hippie-like professional therapist who has chosen to specialize in Eve's case. Kate is Eve's whole world, controlling every aspect of Eve's life. Through long months of exceedingly slow training, Kate has managed to break through some of the walls Eve has thrown up in her own autistic self-defense.

As the play opens in Eve's room on an autumn day in 1995, Kate is excited to announce to Tom that Eve has written a remarkable collection of poems filled with striking imagery. This is Tom's first visit to the school in quite some time. Eve won't look at Tom or allow him close to her.

Tom is skeptical. He considers Eve more of a family responsibility than a daughter he can love. Kate insists she has won Eve's trust, has taught Eve to be more self-reliant and has discovered Eve can "talk."

If Kate holds Eve's hand to calm her anxiety, Eve can spell words by picking out the letters on a keyboard. Tom wants to believe, but his training as a lawyer keeps insisting on more proof.

Kate's own identity rides on believing she has discovered Eve is an autism savant, and on being Eve's doorway to national recognition. By controlling every aspect of Eve's training, Kate can make a convincing case. But the more proof Tom seeks, the more defensive Kate becomes

As Kate and Tom battle out Eve's case, we begin to realize Eve is caught in the middle. She loves her father and she loves her teacher, but feels they are pulling her apart.

The play becomes a pinball machine of psychology, as the rolling metal ball makes lots of noise setting off one bright light after another in swirls of chaotic colors. Each of the actors by turn keeps raising the score a little higher.

Blair's acting is solid as the lawyer accustomed to making his points and winning his cases. We feel his frustration entering Eve's world where the logic is more slippery.

Craig gives an impressive performance as the therapist who shapes Eve's environment in her own favor. She makes us appreciate how much of a teacher's world really is illusion.

But it is Lacy who gives "Miracles" its center. She is totally committed to the role of Eve. Rolling her eyes, twisting her fingers, extending her arms at odd angles, we begin to see her through our own attitudes about autism. The experience is a very special kind of theater.

Performances continue through Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays at Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Ave. No performance Saturday Feb. 5, an additional performance Saturday, Feb 12, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25, half-price rush tickets on sale when available 30 minutes before curtain. For details and reservations, 882-9721, or visit www.invisibletheatre.com