Full casting is announced today for the powerful Faith Healer, written by Olivier and Tony Award-winning Brian Friel and directed by the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre’s Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan. Named in The Stage’s Top 100 List of most influential people in theatre, Rachel O’Riordan’s direction of Faith Healer follows recent triumphs Iphigenia in Splott (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre) and Romeo & Julie (National Theatre), of which the former was voted as The Guardian’s top theatre show of 2022. A modern classic, Faith Healer is a powerful stage mystery, interrogating truth, identity and the strength of storytelling.
Starring in the production is one of Ireland’s most respected stage actors Declan Conlon, playing Frank, who is also reuniting with director O’Riordan after previously working together on Come on Home (Abbey Theatre, Dublin). Declan is joined by Nick Holder, playing Teddy (Assassins at Chichester Festival Theatre) and Justine Mitchell, whose work includes Dancing at Lughnasa (National Theatre), Channel 4 hit series Derry Girls and Sally Rooney’s Conversation with Friends (BBC), who is playing Grace.
Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director & CEO of Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, said: “Faith Healer is a play I have long wanted to direct ; its exploration of the instability of truth opens up great possibilities. As one of the most highly-regarded playwrights of our time, Friel’s play deservedly earns its status as a ‘masterpiece’. I couldn’t be prouder to be directing this Irish classic with a powerhouse cast for our audiences here in West London and beyond.”
Faith Healer is designed by Colin Richmond, the lighting design is by Paul Keogan, composition and sound design is by Anna Clock, and casting by Sophie Parrott CDG
Trawling through the remote and lonely villages of Ireland, Wales and Scotland is, The Fantastic Frank Hardy, who for one night only promises miracle cures for the sick and the suffering. He might just be more showman than shaman but… the promise of the impossible is irresistible.
But it’s Frank’s shapeshifting gift and proclamations that bring him into conflict with his wife Grace and manager Teddy. As they each recount their lives together, they unveil a well of fractured memories.
Brian Friel’s play Faith Healer has spellbinding allure, and powerful stage mystery; it has thrilled audiences across the world since it first opened on Broadway in 1979.
