Brian Friel crafted several emotional arcs into "Faith Healer". I can't decide if there were too many for the close quarters of the play itself, but I think there were too many for the Guthrie cast that essayed the production at the Matinee yesterday.
The oddest thing about the play for me, was the woodeness with which Joe gave us the supposedly charismatic central character. At least for the first extended monologue.
The play itself was an experiment. Even an act of aggression against conventions of play format. It was, finally, four monologues in series. It could have been rearranged. The wife could have started things off with her clenched fist of memory brandished in the face of the crowd, suddenly flowering into a grief and confession that would have pulled tears from a Sony robot. Instead Joe played lead off, palavering and pacing, strewing language on the stage like handfuls of rusty tacks, stale figs and bright glass marbles.
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