Review: FAITH HEALER at Gamm Theatre

The late Brian Friel is regarded as one of Ireland's premiere playwrights, and the Gamm's stunning production of his twisty meditation on truth and belief, "Faith Healer," beautifully captures the essence of his language and vision. This is a must-see production with a superb cast performing at the height of their craft.

On the surface, the story is simple. Told as a series of four monologues, it traces the troubled career of "the fantastic" Frank Hardy, an itinerant faith healer, and his travels around the UK and Ireland. The first (and last) to speak is Frank himself, played with affecting sincerity by Tony Estrella. His long-suffering wife--or, perhaps, mistress--Grace, follows. Jeanine Kane offers a haunting portrait of neurosis, repression, and trauma that closes the first act on a devastating note.

As act two opens, we hear from Frank's manager, Teddy, who has had the unenviable task of booking the inconsistent (and later "two bottles of whiskey a day") Frank into a series of tiny venues. Friel carefully manages the tension and release of the story arc, and Brandon Whitehead as Teddy does an absolutely stellar job of leavening the drama with notes of humor before--this is an Irish play, after all--once again plunging us into despair.

Frank is given the last word. By this point, we've come to realize that none of these narrators can be trusted, as all relate versions of the same events with radically different facts. And while it's tempting to invoke Kurosawa to explain such a predicament, Ireland has its own tradition, craic (pronounced "crack"), which suffices: the gentle art of verbal embroidery that's an integral part of any evening at the pub. Of course, here, self delusion plays a part as well.

That's not to say that the script itself is sloppy. Quite the opposite; every word is precisely set. Early in the first monologue, amidst reciting the names of all the towns he's played and all their indistinguishable meeting-houses and schools, Frank mentions noticing from time to time a "withered sheaf of wheat from a harvest thanksgiving of years ago," a "relic of abandoned ritual." Attentive ears will catch in this the essence of Friel's ambition in the play. One might also hear a nod to work by Friel's friend, the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who describes just such a sheaf in his poem "The Harvest Bow," where he observes that that by fingering it, one is "gleaning the unsaid off the palpable," an apt description of the playwright's method. It's also a Chekhovian gun on the mantle, warning about the ends that come to those who, like John Barleycorn, play with being the spirit of healing and rebirth.

To say more would be to say too much. Rest assured that attention to every small detail will be handsomely repaid.

And Donnla Hughes, making her U.S. directing debut, ensures that every small detail is caught. The staging is crisp and unfussy, every word and gesture thoughtfully placed (even down to the moments when the actors deliberately stumble over the points in the script where the characters correct themselves, something Hughes has clearly coached them all to do identically). This is a stellar directorial effort, and her vision is ably supported by Patrick Lynch's deceptively simple set: a bare wooden platform, mirrored above by a slanting set of rafters that suggest timelessly. It's a box with invisible walls (which Hughes literally has Frank pace the edges of at one point.)

There is also fine work in the precise lighting by Dawn Chiang, full of nearly imperceptible sneaks and fades, and the ambience provided by Alex Eizenberg's almost subliminal sound design. Costume designer Katie Hand has clothed the company perfectly, down to the visible length of Frank's socks.

This is a brilliantly acted, thoughtfully directed, and impeccably staged production of one of Brian Friel's masterworks. It is a gripping evening of theatre at its most visceral and human. Highly recommended.

"Faith Healer" directed by Donnla Hughes. The Gamm Theatre, January 12-29. Masked matinee Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2pm. Tickets $55-$65 at the box office, 1245 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick, RI; 401-723-4266; online at https://www.gammtheatre.org/faith. Information about rush and discount tickets on the web site. Content advisory: descriptions of pregnancy loss, suggestions of violence.

Photo credit: Cat Laine

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