Chris Eldon Lee reviews Brian Friel’s “The Faith Healer” which is at the New Vic in Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday 9th September and then tours widely, including Wolverhampton Arena Theatre on October 24th.
I love Theatre-in-the-Round. It is quite simply the most natural form of theatre there is. Without the complications of wings and sightlines and ‘having to face the front’, the actors are free to roam the stage and express themselves …holding conversations face to face rather than side by side… and are able to address audience members whichever way they are facing.
The one thing that 360-degree theatre is not ideal for though is monologue. Inevitably the actor spends a considerable time with his or her back to you; audibility can be affected, especially in heavily accented plays, and you are shorn of the option of witnessing another character’s reaction to what is being said … which otherwise can help comprehension. So, it is unfortunate that London Classic Theatre’s new production of Brian Friel’s highly notable play ‘The Faith Healer’ begins its tour at The New Vic this week. For it is, essentially, four monologues. What is exciting however is that all four cover the same set of stories but from widely differing viewpoints.
It is one of the late Irish master’s earlier plays, dating from 1979, and is less well known and less frequently performed than ‘Translations’ and ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’. But is shares their themes : the meaning of ‘home’, a sense of loss, and the decline of community spirit. And its central, conflicting subject – faith – makes for a truly excellent play.
Frank Hardy is a travelling faith healer who, it appears, does occasionally succeed in healing the sick and lame. Actor Paul Carroll plays him superbly, transitioning from a confident, if pompous, young man on a mission (who is tempted to embellish the truth), into a demoralised individual, stripped of his zeal by alcohol and self-doubt. Does he really have a God-given talent or is he instead a victim of his own deep-seated confidence trick? He can’t answer this fundamental question himself, and Friel ensures the audience can’t either.
His mistress, Grace, yearningly played by Gina Costigan, feels she is living in his shadow but dutifully joins him on his endless healing tours to needy folk in far-off, down-beaten chapel halls; all richly described in Friel’s beautiful, characterful prose. But she is beset by psychiatric issues which Frank cannot heal, or, worse, which he ignores at critical moments. In the most poignant, heart-breaking episode of the play, set in Kinlochbervie in the far north of Scotland, where Grace loses a child, he is off and away home. Costigan’s performance is riveting … but loses some of its emotional power when her voice enters its lower register and fails to carry.
Despite the undoubted quality of these two portrayals, it is a tough first half. But the star turn of the show has yet to come.
Their tour manager, Teddy, in brought outstandingly and comically to theatrical life by Jonathan Ashley. Here is a world-weary, show-bizz character who is more at home with vaudeville performing pigeon acts (or bagpipe-playing whippets) than spiritual crusaders. His motives are never quite clear but his claim that his relationship is ‘purely business’ is questionable to say the least. In an exquisitely written monologue, Friel places the most likely version of events in the hands of the least trustworthy character. Ashley’s comic timing is spot on. His matter-of-fact, storytelling, delivery contrasts deliciously with that of his two companions and the play really lifts. It’s an award-winning performance.
Friel has a compendium of points to make about belief, honesty and self-delusion; and although The Saviour is never actually mentioned, Frank, in a small way, must feel he is going through similar dilemmas to those that beset Jesus. Another, more contemporary, parallel would be the current crop of stage clairvoyants who also depend on trust.
Human fallibility and blind egotism are written loud in Friel’s script. Hopes are dashed as all three characters slowly realise that their various accounts of what came to pass may well mean they are all living the same lie. It is an untidy play with so many untied loose ends. Friel gives enough information to fuel conjecture, but explanations are fragmented and not coherent enough to answer so many unresolved issues. All of which gives the audience plenty of options.