Susan Granger’s review of “Faith Healer” (Booth Theater)
There’s good news and bad news about the current revival of Irish playwright Brian Friel’s “The Faith Healer,” a formidable meditation on the nature of love, faith and truth,
The good news is that the talented trio of actors is unsurpassed anywhere in theatrical world today. Making his first Broadway appearance since “Hamlet” more than a decade ago, Ralph Fiennes is charismatic as Frank Hardy, the titular Faith Healer, a seedy, self-doubting Irish charlatan who has spent many years touring the tiny villages of Scotland and Wales attempting to “cure” the afflicted. Cherry Jones is captivating as Grace, his anguished, long-suffering companion/wife who is trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship. Last but not least, Ian McDiarmid (best known as the Emperor Palpatine in “Star Wars”) almost steals the show as Teddy, Frank’s loyal Cockney manager, offering welcome comic relief as the third member of this bizarrely dysfunctional family.
The bad news is that sitting through the four lugubrious, 30+-minute monologues is an endurance challenge. Unlike movies, where the director yells, “Cut,” or the editor sighs, “Enough, already,” no one seems to realize that an audience, however attentive, can be dulled not only by seemingly endless repetition but also by the actors’ static stance. Under the seamless direction of Dublin-based Jonathan Kent, only Ralph Fiennes makes any use of the length and breadth of the stage.
True, the “Rashomon-like” concept requires that each of the three characters reveal pivotal revelations from his/her point-of-view – and, within the exposition, the contrasting and conflicting versions are where the drama lies. However, these disclosures ramble on and on and on.
“The Faith Healer,” starring James Mason, first premiered on Broadway back in 1979.