Broadway-Bound Faith Healer Sets Box Office Record at Dublin

Brian Friel's Broadway-bound masterpiece Faith Healer starring Ralph Fiennes under the direction of Jonathan Kent, has become the first production in Dublin's Gate Theatre 78 year history to sell out its entire engagement before playing a single performance. The show, which began previews in Dublin yesterday and opens February 7th, will open at Broadway's Booth Theatre May 4th in a production starring Fiennes and Cherry Jones, helmed by Kent. Ian McDiarmid, also in the Gate production, will co-star.

Ralph Fiennes returns to Broadway -- alongside Cherry Jones, fresh from her tour de force in Doubt -- in Brian Friel's Faith Healer, a spellbinding play in which each new revelation upends all that has come before it. Faith Healer tells the moving tale of dissolute, charismatic Frank Hardy (Fiennes), his long-time lover (Jones) and his devoted manager (McDiarmid) as they travel the back roads of Scotland and Wales peddling miracles. As the three wrestle with Hardy's genuine but elusive gift for healing, they ask potent questions about who we trust, what we know and why we believe. Faith Healer offers the unique opportunity to see three of our finest actors on one stage and delights those with faith in the enduring power of live theatre.

A 1998 National Theatre poll of theatre professionals and scholars chose Faith Healer as one of the 100 most significant English language plays of the 20th century and voted Brian Friel one of its 20 most significant playwrights.

The general public on-sale begins Saturday, February 18, 2006. The opening date for the Booth Theatre box office is to be announced. Performances will be Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Premium seating is available.

For tickets and information visit faithhealeronbroadway.com.