The confident use of chicanery is praised by one of the characters in Faith Healer – and in the form of great acting, plenty of it is on show here.
Brian Friel’s play is a challenging and audacious piece for cast and audience, featuring four roughly half hour monologues performed by three actors.
First we hear from the titular faith healer Francis Hardy, played by Nick Bodger, setting out the bones of his life story as an itinerant performer travelling across the Celtic parts of Britain and Ireland with his mistress and manager in tow.
His story is immediately questioned by the testimony of his partner Grace, played by Ginny Porteous, and manager Teddy (Trevor Burton), whose recollections of their sometimes dark and tragic lives differ. Francis – as you suspect is fitting for his character – gets the final say, returning to fill in (possibly truthfully, possibly not) the gaps.
It’s a complex story of relationships and belief and, while Francis is ostensibly the performer, his two companions clearly have their own projected personas, perhaps searching for healing of their own as they bind themselves to him.
It’s a brave piece to perform, and Bodger, Porteous, and Burton are extremely impressive. The monologues are unforgiving territory, and all completely inhabit their characters with only very occasionally wandering accents to break the suspension of disbelief.
While produced by the Norwich Players the production is staged not in their usual Maddermarket Theatre home but in the next door Church of St John. It’s an interesting and evocative space (and a slightly chilly one – be sure to wrap up and grab a blanket on the way in), but its potential is not explored. I kept expecting to see a character appear in the pulpit, but most action remained in the nave – much a like a traditional stage.
Director Chris Brealey has coaxed some fine performances from three talented actors. Confident chicanery indeed.
- Faith Healer continues at St John Maddermarket, Norwich until Sunday 26 April, tickets £10-£14 from Maddermarket Theatre.
