Brian Friel's FAITH HEALER Added to Barrington Stage Company 2023 Season

Barrington Stage Company Founding Artistic Director Julianne Boyd will direct a new production of Faith Healer by the great Irish playwright, Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa, Translations) as a part of the company's 2023 season. The production will play from Tuesday, August 1 through Sunday, August 27 on the St. Germain Stage at the Blatt Center for Performing Arts (36 Linden Street). Opening night is Saturday, August 5.

The production will star BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar (BSC: The Importance of Being Earnest, A Doll's House, Part 2, Private Lives) as Frank Hardy, Mark H. Dold (BSC: Waiting for Godot, Harry Clarke, Freud's Last Session) as Teddy, and Gretchen Egolf (BSC: A Picasso, Much Ado About Nothing, Private Lives) as Grace.

Faith Healer originally premiered in 1979 at Boston's Colonial Theatre in a production directed by José Quintero. It has since come to be regarded as a modern classic, with many productions around the world including on Broadway, in London and Dublin. Reviewing the 2016 Broadway revival, Ben Brantley, The New York Times, wrote, "In a way, it's about how every one of us is an artist by default, reinventing the world each time we remember something."

In his brilliant masterpiece, Brian Friel tells the story of the mysterious and charismatic Frank Hardy as he travels as a faith healer across the Welsh and Scottish countryside. A three-person play in four monologues, Frank (Innvar), his wife Grace (Egolf) and his manager Teddy (Dold) recount the same events from different perspectives. Frank bookends the show questioning the validity of his gift to heal people with the power of faith as Grace and Teddy reflect on his successes, inconsistencies, and Frank's character itself. A powerful testament to relational entanglement, Brian Friel's masterpiece Faith Healer is an exploration of the deeply subjective nature of personal reality and how that perception affects the realities of others.

"Even though Julie is enjoying her retirement, we could not help but ask if she wanted to return to direct a play of her choice," commented Alan Paul. "So, we're thrilled to present a Brian Friel play for the first time for BSC audiences. Friel's brilliant and elegiac language with these three superb actors in Julie's production will surely be a highlight of the 2023 season."

Julianne Boyd says, "I am thrilled to be directing Faith Healer, Brian Friel's hauntingly beautiful play that has been on my short list for years - and I am excited to be reunited with three tremendously talented actors and BSC Associate Artists, Christopher Innvar, Mark Dold and Gretchen Egolf."

The production will feature set design by Luciana Stecconi (BSC: Waiting for Godot), costume design by Lex Liang (BSC: Who Could Ask for Anything More? The Songs of George Gershwin), lighting design by David Lander (BSC: A Little Night Music, Waiting for Godot) and sound design by Fabian Obispo (BSC: The Chinese Lady, American Underground).

As previously announced, BSC's 2023 season will also include a new production of the legendary Tony Award winning musical Cabaret, featuring music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Joe Masteroffand directed by Alan Paul. Additional productions for the 2023 season will be announced soon.

BSC's 2023 Season Tickets are available now. To learn more and book, please visit BarringtonStageCo.org/SeasonTix.

ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY

Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC's mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company's Artistic Director in 2022.

BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.

BSC's reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre's prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown's American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain's Freud's Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green's On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins' centenaries (2018).

BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 38 new works, 19 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres. Following the industry-wide shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, BSC was the first Equity theatre in the US to return to live performance with its critically acclaimed production of Harry Clarke, starring BSC Associate Artist Mark H. Dold and directed by Ms. Boyd.

The 2022 season featured a critically acclaimed revival of Ain't Misbehavin', which won two Berkshire Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Ensemble; Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics; Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music, winner of eight Berkshire Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Musical; the world premiere play All of Me by Laura Winters, winner of two Berkshire Theatre Awards; the world premiere play Andy Warhol in Iran by Brent Askari, winner of a Berkshire Theatre Award for world premiere of a new play; May Treuhaft-Ali's world premiere play ABCD; The Youth Theatre's world premiere production of The Supadupa Kid; and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, winner of three Berkshire Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Play.

For more information visit: BarringtonStageCo.org

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