Lyric Hammersmith 23/24 (inc. Brian Friel's Faith Healer)

[londonpostie]

Tempted twice by the current season, and now announcing for later in the year and next.

I'm mostly about the Friel revival atm, might get tempted again later. No casting yet. Note: this production is 13 months away.

Faith Healer is one of Britain’s top 100 plays of the 20th Century. Its spellbinding allure and powerful stage mystery have thrilled audiences across the world since it first opened on Broadway in 1979.

Important factors to note; Ikea is 100m away around the corner (found a very nice doormat after Othello), there is a Weatherspoons opposite, and the Lyric does a 3-for-2 deal on tickets. Plus, I do like a gentle ride out on the Hammersmith and Circle Line from Kings Cross (etc)

lyric.co.uk/2023-2024-season/

[alessia]

I booked three shows for £30, I love the Lyric even though for me it's a bit of a journey to get to it.

[Dave B]

The Lyric's deals are always great. I've booked. Our theatre calendar now runs to March 2024. I could hear my better half rolling her eyes when I told her.

[barrowside]

Faith Healer seems to be getting a lot of London productions. It's not very long since both the Donmar and Old Vic (online) did it. It's seen much less frequently in Ireland where the late Donal McCann casts a very long shadow.

[foxa]

Yes barrowside , Faith Healer is the one I didn't book for - having seen the splendid Donmar production (though I wonder if that brought us the current curse of rain curtains) and then the filmed one at the Old Vic (also very good) during lockdown.

I am most excited about Lemn Sissay's adaptation of Metamorphosis with Frantic Assembly, but also booked for God of Carnage and The Empress - as Dave B says, the 3 for 2 deal is hard to beat. I didn't entirely understand the seating plan as A LOT of the auditorium seems not to be for sale at the moment. Possibly they are trying to group people together so they can shut off sections. Does feel funny to already have a 2024 theatre date in the diary, but there you go!

[alessia]

I always book for first row at the Lyric, is such good value! I've also booked for Metamorphosis and God of Carnage, along with Faith healer which I have never seen before

[londonpostie]

Feb 22, 2023 12:44:25 GMT foxa said:

I didn't entirely understand the seating plan as A LOT of the auditorium seems not to be for sale at the moment. Possibly they are trying to group people together so they can shut off sections. Does feel funny to already have a 2024 theatre date in the diary, but there you go!

They don't sell the balcony overhang into the rear stalls, though atm it looks like they are giving that more room than normal.

[david]

Good news for those of us who have booked for God of Carnage. The run time according to an email from Today Tix now puts it at a lovely 90 minutes straight through. So a nice early finish.

[rumtom]

Free tickets available for tonight for Faith Healer. See noticeboard.

[Dave B]

Ah a thread. We saw Faith Healer on Saturday night (third preview) and weren't entirely taken with it.

The first two parts are very flat, Francis Hardy is played with feck all charisma. Almost perhaps dull. It makes it really hard to see him doing the healing/con, the relationship with Grace and indeed her monologue is also flat. It leaves nothing between them, no reason to believe in them in a relationship at all. The Teddy monologue is about as far from this as you can get, as he oozes charm and charisma - exactly what a snake-oil salesman would need to get bums into seats.

I suspect it is leaning heavily into the drunken broken Francis and Grace but it didn't click at all for us. A very quiet Lyric Hammersmith (though I find they generally grow their audience as shows go on) with a number of people leaving at the interval. A few people straight onto their feet at the end, including of course the man who loudly rustled his crisps and munched them for an eternity after the interval.

[rumtom]

Good to hear your thoughts on it - although it's s a shame as I thought if it as quite strong play and was looking forward to seeing it! At least that's made me less disappointed to miss it.

Either way.. two free tickets still available! Stalls. Row D

[aspieandy]

Hmm. Yup. More a storytelling approach here. Felt it's written for a charismatic, pseudo-evangelic, narcissist-type. This was purposely subdued.

If it's any measure these days, there was some enthusiastic standing at the end.

[lt]

Saw this last night, and I thought it was excellent.

The play is told through a series of monologues and of course no one's version of events is quite the same... Yes, Declan Conlon's faith healer is not a bombastic, over-the-top American style preacher, but this is Brian Friel and I think his approach is always more subtle. I thought all the three of the cast (the other two cast members being Justine Mitchell and Nick Holder) had immaculately nuanced and pitch perfect performance. It's not easy to hold an audience with a long monologue and certainly the night I went all three managed to do this with ease. I was gripped throughout the show.

The subtle use of sound and lighting in the staging was also very cleverly done and worked so well with the developing and changing stories within each actor's monologue. Would thoroughly recommend.

Also a shout out to the Lyric Hammersmith (who I have no relationship with of any sort) for their incredibly good value tickets. We had tickets in row K in the stalls for £10 each.

[aspieandy]

Mark Lawson, writing in the Guardian, liked it rather a lot, as did Dominic Cavendish in the Telegraph, Whatsonstage, Time Out and the Evening Standard - all giving 4*

Example: www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/mar/21/faith-healer-review-brian-friel-lyric-hammersmith

[joem]

Why doesn't Faith Healer, or the other plays for that matter, not have a thread of its own?

[Dave B]

Mar 21, 2024 22:36:43 GMT joem said:

Why doesn't Faith Healer, or the other plays for that matter, not have a thread of its own?

No-one has created one. Not much more to it than that.

[tmesis]

I was very impressed with this. All three performances were top notch - I found them all charismatic in different ways. The audience reaction was very strong at today’s matinee.

[alessia]

At first I didn't know what to make of this- the first part was puzzling to say the least (I had not seen this before nor I knew anything about it) and borderline boring - I kept thinking when are the other acts coming? but then with part 2 and part 3 (the second and third actors to be clear) I 'got it' and it became really interesting. Not an easy play or immediately engaging (lady sat next to me didn't return after the interval, and I think she slept all the way through the first part) but very different from anything I'd seen before and the topic is fascinating. The acting is incredible, particularly Justine Mitchell. It really leaves you with a lot to think about.

[Libby]

I saw this the other night and I have mixed feelings. The second and third monologues were certainly the highlights of the play. The script itself is really interesting (bought it at the interval because I missed a lot of the dialogue) but I found it quite tedious to sit through four 30 min monologues without much else happening onstage. (Perhaps if I had sat closer to the front I would have been able to appreciate the acting more but I was in the very back).

My biggest issue is that I could hear every noise from the audience and it was really distracting and made it even more difficult to stay in the scene with the actors.

I would have preferred to see just Justine Mitchell's monologue as a standalone piece. This felt longer than any other play I have seen recently and the main character who has the most dialogue is also the least interesting. Maybe sit this one out if you also have ADHD and find it hard to focus with distractions from the audience and minimal action onstage.

It is also very ableist but that is to be expected with historical plays.

[jr]

Ticket for Faith healer for tonight available on noticeboard.

Apologies for not waiting til it's published but cannot be checking, at work.
Thanks

[pws]

Mar 28, 2024 20:53:50 GMT Libby said:

My biggest issue is that I could hear every noise from the audience and it was really distracting and made it even more difficult to stay in the scene with the actors.

I saw this last night and did not have this problem. Not a squeak from anyone, no fidgetting or talking or mobile phones. Maybe you were just unlucky.
Thought it was very interesting and quite funny in the second half, but not as great as people have said.
Good turnout for a Thursday...

[zuberin0]

We are spoilt of good Brian Friels here in London! There was the NT's Translations and Lughnasa, both absolutely gripping, and now here is Faith Healer back after 8 years or so. I loved this production, and Justine Mitchell and Nick Holder really shone. Rachel O'Riordan continues to do excellent work at the Hamm.

[indabe]

I saw this on the opening night. I was sat at the back and couldn’t hear Declan Conlon, so quickly became bored. Justine Mitchell was far more audible and had a greater stage presence. However, by the interval I’d had enough and left, along with at least 60 other audience members.

[sanddeep]

I note that when I saw it (front row) he was mic'd up

[lt]

Apr 9, 2024 11:54:31 GMT indabe said:

I saw this on the opening night. I was sat at the back and couldn’t hear Declan Conlon, so quickly became bored. Justine Mitchell was far more audible and had a greater stage presence. However, by the interval I’d had enough and left, along with at least 60 other audience members.

I was in the eighth row, so pretty near the front, and the sound was perfect there, but I guess he is quite softly spoken?