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Kevin Theis, as "Frank" Francis Hardy, the Faith Healer.
photographer Michael E. Rothman
Faith Healer
directed by Belinda Bremner
   March 10-April 16

"A tempest of talent, a must see production, highly recommended.."
Suburban Journals of  Chicago Inc

review by Ed Vincent

The Faith Healer, "a craft without an apprenticeship," is a myriad of monologues all given with a varied view of the tale of one man and his affect on many.  Francis Hardy does faith healing because he could do it, he tells us, it doesn't always work though.  He also tells us that it is only about 10% on average, but that he knows when it will work, even before he tries.  He always knew when nothing was going to happen.

Mary Michell, as "Grace" Mistress/Wife of the Faith Healer.
photographer Michael E. Rothman

The Faith Healer is a wonderful play with smooth wording and gritty dialogue resonating with pathos and loads of spicy reality.  Discussions perplexed in their angles and "balanced between the absurd and the monumental."

Kevin Theis, as  Francis Hardy is welcoming and mysterious, beckoning, bewildering, deluded, and a pleasure to listen to.  Theis has a grand feel for the character and brings it to life with zest.

Mary Michell, as Grace is portrayed with beautiful acting and skill, giving a life to a character thrilled and bewildered by the changing of times.  Her telling of events reminds us of the various views of the same events seen daily in courts and tales of the neighborhood.  This play should be prerequisite for all jurors, judges, court officials, and law makers, as well psychologists, and sociologists.

Jack Hickey, as "Teddy" the Theatrical Agent of the Faith Healer.
photographer Michael E. Rothman

Jack Hickey, as Teddy is fabulous as the professional, objective
businessman who has lost the border between friendship and just out for a buck individuals.  Teddy is loving, considerate and carries a heart big enough for a small horse.  A great group of folks with wonderful accents brings this exciting story to a wonderful vision, and beautifully directed by Belinda Bremner, a local star for her past works including "Of Mice and Men", by Oak Park Festival Theatre.

This is truly a must see play for lovers of theater and while at the Goodman the other night I heard other reviewers saying this is the best performance they had ever seen, and they were right.




Mary Michell, Kevin Theis and Jack Hickey in Oak Park Festival Theatre's production of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. 

 
Faith Healer
directed by Belinda Bremner
   March 10-April 16

Don't miss Brian Friel's evocative masterpiece that takes us to the heart of what it means to believe.. Starring Jack Hickey, Mary Michell and Kevin Theis. The New York Times chief critic hailed Faith Healer as "One of the transcendent experiences of my theatergoing life. A major work of art ... the power behind the prose is so genuine that it hurts."

 
 
Two Ways to Save - Order TODAY!
$15 preview tickets on March 10-12
$18 tickets to any Friday night performance.
Use promotional code "Friends2."
 
 
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with an Irish Ceilidhe
Thursday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m.

A ceilidhe (pronounced "kay-lee") is traditional Gaelic party,  so join us in honoring the homeland of Faith Healer's playwright, Brian Friel. Enjoy live music by Beth Ann O'Reilly Amandes and Paul Amandes, delicious food, cash bar, and a haunting performance of Faith Healer. Festivities are complementary to all ticketholders on Thursday, March 17.
Buy tickets for March 17th right here.

 
Madison Street Theatre
1010 W. Madison St.
Oak Park

OakParkFestival.com
Tickets@OakParkFestival.com
708-445-4440

Oak Park Festival Theatre Presents Brian Friel's Faith Healer
 
OAK PARK, IL–Oak Park Festival Theatre presents Brian Friel's Faith Healer at The Performance Center, 1010 W. Madison St. in Oak Park.  Faith Healer previews March 10 through 12, and runs March 13 to April 16.  Performances
are at 8:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 5:00 on Sundays.  There will be an additional performance at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13.

Faith Healer is a mesmerizing mystery told in four monologues. It is a riddle, the honest fiction of the three mutually contradictory truths of Frank Hardy (the eponymous Faith Healer), Grace, his wife–or mistress–and Teddy, his manager.    Friel's riveting and haunting work entices the
audience to become the fourth character and to tease out the answers.

Many have hailed Faith Healer as Friel's masterpiece, surpassing even Dancing at Lughnasa. Friel at 80 is regarded as Ireland's greatest living playwright, the force behind the new Irish Theatre Renaissance Faith Healer is directed by Belinda Bremner, who directed OPFT's critically acclaimed 2008 production of Dancing at Lughnasa and this year's Jeff Recommended Of Mice and Men.  This Jefferson winner was a
founding member of both ShawChicago and the Body Politic Ensemble and worked with the Goodman, Court, Northlight, Stories on Stage, and St. Nicholas, and has taught at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University for more than twenty years.
 
Bremner has this to say about Faith Healer, "Despite the many matters that divide us, we all share the need to know the balance in our lives between our actions and chance, and to believe in belonging somewhere to someone.

That is why we tell our stories. This play's three characters are each witness to a fourth, most important, character: the audience. The audience weighs each version of the events around which three lives coil in a Celtic knot–each and all true, but only when the audience chooses its own truth. It's baffling and beguiling, hilarious and heartbreaking, so smart
and so very simple. It is a demanding piece both of its artists and its audience but, just like each of our lives, what glorious and urgent work "
 
Oak Park Festival Theatre operates under an agreement with Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.  The theatre's agreement with the union only requires the hiring of a single Equity actor in each production.  For Faith Healer, however, OPFT will (for the first time in its 36 year existence) have an entire cast of Equity actors.  The cast of Faith Healer is as follows: As Frank, Kevin
Theis; as Teddy, OPFT Artistic Director, Jack Hickey; and as Grace, Mary Michell. The stage manager for Faith Healer is Robert W. Behr.  The production is designed by Ms. Bremner and Edwin Wald.
 
Kevin Theis returns to Oak Park Festival Theatre, having previously appeared as George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men under Ms. Bremner's direction, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing under Mr. Hickey's direction, and roles in The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream  and Falstaff.  He has also directed three shows for the Festival (most recently Cyrano de Bergerac) and will direct Henry V this coming summer.  He has also appeared with the Goodman Theatre, Next Theatre, City Lit, Peninsula Players, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Seanachai Theatre Company, and CT20 Ensemble, where he served as Artistic Director.
 
Jack Hickey is the Artistic Director of Oak Park Festival Theatre. For Festival Theatre he has directed Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, and Love's Labour's Lost. Roles with Festival Theatre include the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac, Charles Condomine in Blithe Spirit, Howard Bevins in Picnic, Touchstone in As You Like It, John Douglas in Murder by the Book, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Jack has worked with many other theatres including ShawChicago, The Goodman, Drury Lane Oak Brook, Remy
Bumppo, and Chicago Dramatists.
 
Faith Healer marks Mary Michell's second appearance with Oak Park Festival Theatre. In 2008 she appeared as Kate in Belinda Bremner's production of Dancing at Lughnasa. She has been performing with ShawChicago Theatre Company for twelve years, appearing in last season's The Doctor's Dilemma,
Midwinter's Tales, and Votes for Women. Chicago audiences have also seen her at Bailiwick Repertory, Chicago Dramatists, Illinois Theatre Center, Drury Lane, The Harper Theatre, The Ivanhoe Theatre, and the Academy Playhouse.
 
Faith Healer runs March 10 through April 16 in the studio theatre at The Performance Center, 1010 W. Madison St. in Oak Park.  Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m., with an opening night performance at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 13.  There will be
a Wednesday performance at 8:00 p.m. on April 13.  Special St. Patrick's Day events are planned for Thursday, March 17.

Please see http://oakparkfestival.com for the complete show schedule and to purchase tickets.  Ticket prices are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors.  Three-play season subscriptions are available for $70 (full price) and $50 (students and seniors). 

Tickets may also be purchased by calling the box office at 708-445-4440.
 
Oak Park Festival Theatre–Oak Park's only Equity theatre and the Midwest's oldest professional theatre performing the classics outdoors–is proud to present its 37th year of theatrical excellence and to provide Chicagoland with the greatest classical plays ever written.

Since 1975, the greatest playwrights have illumined our stage and enlightened our audiences. More information on Oak Park Festival Theatre is available at http://oakparkfestival.com or by calling (708) 445-4440.






































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