“Faith Healer” centers about two of the most contradictory concepts within the human mind – the difference between memory and truth. No matter how much we believe in our own truth, it is often in contrast with reality.
“Faith Healer”, which is at Barrington Stage Company is Pittsfield, MA though August 27, is a brilliant play by Brian Friel that tells its story in four monologues.
Each tells the same basic tale, but the viewpoints are totally different. In other words, in a work in which no one tells a lie, it is left to the audience to decipher the truth.
If this sounds confusing or too esoteric for an audience, it shouldn’t be. We find examples of the same thing in our own daily lives. Sometimes hearing childhood stories, I wonder if my sisters and I grew up in the same house.
Indeed, what makes “Faith Healer” such a brilliant piece of theater is that it is not a play simply about the perspective of memory. It deals with topics that are at our very root of humanity. Like an artist, every individual has a need to create a reality that makes sense of a senseless life.
Frank Hardy is a man with a gift. He can cure people of their disabilities. But like all supernatural gifts, it comes with a curse. Hardy has no control of his ability to cure people but can intuit when he will be successful. He is uncertain whether he is, as his father-in-law calls him, a mountebank or a gifted healer.
He is, however, addicted to those moments of success and believes his limited gift elevates him above others. He interprets his uniqueness, coupled with a natural charm, as permission to behave badly.
Indeed, Frank reveals he has a certain amount of contempt for those who come to him for hope. He believes they hated him because, as he says, they came to him not in hope but for the confirmation that they were incurable. For those he couldn’t cure, he was a last resort that doomed them to a life of misery.
Compensating for the dreary sounding material is the poetic prose of the playwright, delivered masterfully by three gifted actors.
Never do you doubt that three tarnished characters would think and express themselves with such eloquence. Too, rarely are you less than totally absorbed by the tales that take a circuitous turn.
Indeed, playwright Friel elevates the tragic existence of this trio, who are impoverished materially and spiritually, to a profound theatrical experience. A tragedy of the story is that each has forsaken life in the pursuit of something in which no one believes.
Though there are many factual contradictions in the three versions of the same stories, there are essential details that add the necessary thread of truth. The use of the recording of “The Way You Look Tonight,” the birth and burial of a baby and interpretations of multiple miracles are but a few.
Most of all they are affected by a mysterious meeting between them and a group of uncivilized men returning from a wedding. Even the end of that final story is ambiguous, but emotionally devastating.
It is difficult to imagine a better cast. Christopher Innvar is able to show his innate charm and self-loathing at the same time. This makes his character both a cipher and believable as the charismatic leader of a cult of three,
Gretchen Egof creates an initially pitiful Grace, who seems a pawn to be hurt by the insensitive nature of Frank. However, through the subtleties of great acting, she shows herself a willing victim because of her own issues of low self-worth.
In a play where truth is ambiguous and individuals are self-destructive, the agent Teddy is almost a breath of fresh air. Mark H. Dold, gives another one of his great performances that combines a flippant touch of comedy with a profound sense of regret.
His stories about managing animal acts, especially a bagpipe-playing dog, is refreshingly comic. But his telling about the birth of Grace’s child is heartbreakingly sad.
Because his stakes in the story appear the lowest, it is natural to believe his version of truth over the others. His mantra is never become emotionally involved with a client. When we discover he broke that rule with Frank and Grace his pain is also revealed.
The entire production is so naturally presented it would appear a spontaneous night of storytelling by three people. As such, one could be forgiven for thinking a director had little to do with it.
I am sure the first people who would point out BSC’s former artistic director Julianne Boyd’s invaluable contributions are her cast, who appear so eloquent and insightful because of her direction.
“Faith Healer” is a play that demands concentration and work from the audience. It isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t make it less than a brilliant night of theater.
“Faith Healer” continues at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, MA. through August 27. For tickets and schedule information go to barringingtonstageco.org or call 413-236-8888.
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
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