FAITH HEALER

by Brian Friel

Director:  Chris Bealey

Performance dates:  20th – 26th April 2026

Note:  This is an Emmerson Studio production, though we are looking into staging performances off site as well.

Audition dates:  December 6th 2pm-4pm; December 13th 12-2pm; December 17th 7-9pm

Recalls:  December 17th 7-9pm; 18th December 7-9pm or as individually arranged.

To book an audition, please complete the Audition Submission Form at the end and email it to brianhardyfriel@gmail.com

PRODUCTION NOTES

Faith Healer is an intimate play about memory, truth, and the ambiguity of faith. Told through four monologues, it centres on Francis Hardy, an itinerant healer; his partner, Grace; and his manager, Teddy. Together, they recount years spent touring rural Scotland and Wales, where Frank offered cures that sometimes succeeded, sometimes failed. Frank, the “Fantastic Francis Hardy,” is torn between belief in his gift and fear of fraudulence. Grace’s account reveals the emotional cost of their wandering life, her grief, and her destructive devotion to Frank. Teddy recalls their tours with warmth and humour, though beneath his showmanship lies regret and loneliness. Their overlapping but contradictory memories leave truth uncertain: Was Frank a healer or a fraud? Was Grace cherished or mistreated?

The play ends with Frank’s return to Ireland, showing Faith Healer as less about miracles than about the stories we tell to survive.

CHARACTER NOTES FOR AUDITIONS

Each role has its own intensity and requires an actor who feels they will be comfortable working on their own with a monologue of between 25 and 40 minutes in length. I value working with actors new as well as those I’ve worked with before. Anyone wanting to audition should make an attempt at learning at least part of their audition piece and work on the relevant accent.

If you want more information contact me at: brianhardyfriel@gmail.com

Frank Hardy  (likely age 45+) is a role of contradictions: part showman, part broken man.  His balance shifts between faith and fraud, confidence and crippling doubt. He can mesmerize with charisma, yet his vulnerability constantly surfaces. His storytelling is both performance and self-persuasion, demanding emotional fluidity and restless energy. Physically and vocally, he should project authority but reveal fragility underneath. His final journey is one of tragic acceptance—portraying a man who, after a lifetime of wandering, faces fate with weary dignity.

Audition pieces: p4, p13 – ‘Then suddenly’  to ‘ ….consciously and relentlessly debauched’, p53 – ‘I carried this around with me for years’ to p53 ‘…. And threw it away.’

Grace Hardy ( younger than Frank) demands a balance of strength and vulnerability. She is defined by love and sacrifice, yet scarred by loss, isolation, and Frank’s instability. Performing Grace requires emotional depth: bitterness and devotion often coexist in her words. You will reveal her resilience while exposing her fragility, portraying a woman both sustained and undone by her bond with Frank.

Audition pieces: p16-17 – to ‘…that you once brought to a legal case’ , p26 – ‘Faith Healer’ to ‘just an illusion, isn’t it?’

Teddy (Frank’s manager – older than Frank) offers warmth and humour but crucially an account filled with pathos to describe his life with Frank and Grace. Teddy is  a contrast to Frank and Grace’s intensity. Teddy is a showman masking loneliness with charm and anecdotes. Playing Teddy requires timing, lightness, and subtle heartbreak—he is both comic relief and a poignant witness, revealing deep loyalty and vulnerability beneath his genial, theatrical exterior.

Audition pieces: p33-34 – ‘let me tell you about two dogs I had once’ to ‘ I tell you a philosopher that’s what you become’ p50-51 ‘ but I was telling you about the poster’ to the end’

AUDITION FORM