Cursed with gift of curing

ONE of the biggest Irish theatre tours this year will bring Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, staged by Town Hall Theatre, to 18 venues, including Cork’s Everyman Palace Theatre from September 5.

One of Friel’s masterpieces, Faith Healer has rarely been produced since its debut on Broadway in 1979. This will be the third Irish touring production of the play, which marks Friel’s move from politics to the dynamics of family.

Faith Healer consists of four monologues by the faith healer, Frank Hardy, his wife, Grace, his cockney manager, Teddy and, finally, Frank again. Director Andrew Flynn says the work is “challenging. In describing the play, what emerges is something that almost goes against the rules of theatre. Nobody talks to each other. While the monologue format has become very popular, these particular monologues are very intricate. They’re not interspersed with different voices. They are complete character monologues.”