Faith Healer, Bristol Old Vic

A gripping revival of Brian Friel's late-20th-century classic

by Mark KidelSunday, 06 February 2011

Finbar Lynch as 'the fantastic' Frank Hardy, Brian Friel's faith healer

Theatre, particularly tragedy, can pack a terrific punch when things are kept simple – even if the themes evoked are enfolded in layer upon layer of complexity. Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, a play with three characters, each of whom takes to the stage alone, explores in a multifaceted way the life of an itinerant Irish healer who plies his trade along the backroads of the Celtic fringes of Britain.

The actors in Friel's play have to create a magical bond with those who have come to the theatre for – well, not literally healing

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