Production History
Faith Healer received its first performance in 1979 on Broadway in a production by José Quintero, with James Mason, Clarissa Kaye and Donal Donnelly. It closed after twenty performances.
There was a radio production of the play on BBC Radio 3 in March 1980. The first production in Ireland was at the Abbey Theatre in August 1980, in a production by Joe Dowling starring Donal McCann, Kate Flynn and John Kavanagh. The first London production was at the Royal Court in London in March 1981, directed by Christopher Fettes, with Patrick Magee, Helen Mirren and Stephen Lewis.
It was revived in 1983 at the Vineyard Theatre, directed by Dann Florek, with J. T. Walsh, Kathleen Chalfant and Martin Shakar.
Joe Dowling returned to the play in 1994 at the Long Wharf Theatre, his production again starring Donal McCann, this time with Judy Geeson and Ron Cook. The New York Times called the production "incandescent" and recommended it to "any connoisseur of theater".
It was revived in London in 2001 by the Almeida Theatre, in a production by Jonathan Kent. The cast consisted of Ken Stott, Geraldine James and Ian McDiarmid. Ian McDiarmid won the 2001 Critics' Circle Best Actor Award for this role.
Jonathan Kent revived the play again for the Gate Theatre in Dublin early in 2006, this time with Ralph Fiennes, Ingrid Craigie and Ian McDiarmid. This production opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on May 4, 2006, now with Cherry Jones as Grace. On Broadway it received four Tony Award nominations and won the Best Featured Actor in a Play, Ian McDiarmid.
The Gate Theatre revived the play again in 2009, presenting the play at the Sydney Festival, as part of a trio of works being performed to honour the eightieth birthday of Friel. The other works are The Yalta Game and Afterplay. This production played at the Gate Theatre in Dublin in January 2010. In 2009, it was also staged at the Unicorn Theatre as part of the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
In October 2009, Joe Dowling directed the play yet again at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This time Dowling also took on the lead role of Frank Hardy himself.
In February 2011, it was staged at Bristol Old Vic under the direction of Associate Director Simon Godwin.
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