Nick Holder stars in the major revival of Faith Healer, written by award-winning Irish playwright Brian Friel, and directed by Lyric Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan, which will play at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.
Voted in the Independent’s top 40 plays of all time, Faith Healer is a modern classic and powerful stage mystery, interrogating truth, identity and the strength of storytelling. Written by Olivier and Tony Award-winning Brian Friel and directed by the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre’s Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan,
Faith Healer runs at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from 14 March – 13 April.
You’re starring in the revival of Faith Healer, what can you tell us about this production?
I think we have done our best to serve Brian Friel in this production. With this calibre of writing the challenge is always to get yourself out of the way and allow the play to speak through you rather than, as it were “sticking something on it.”
Thats not to say you can’t be bold in your choices, you can and must be, but they have to be choices that sit in the truth of the great play Friel has given us.
What is it about Brian Friel’s script that you think has kept the play so popular?
The play is a masterpiece, angry, beautiful, sometimes deeply poetic and at other times brutish and cruel.
The conflicting memories and people’s need to make sense of the events in their lives by finding a version that gives them some content and relative peace is fascinating and revealing to an audience. The play operates in a very visceral and often disturbing way, it’s a terrific rollercoaster and thrilling to witness.
You’re playing Teddy, what are you enjoying most about the character?
I’m loving Teddy being so caught between two worlds, a man from the music hall and an era that has drifted away from him. His world is over, and he is desperate to give testimony and to be heard. I think all humans want and need that, just someone to listen.
And what do you think will be the biggest challenge?
Learning it!!
What’s it been like working with director Rachel O’Riordan?
It’s my first time working with Rachel and it’s a thrilling process. I feel very supported through some of the characters difficult emotional moments but also, it’s a collaborative process that doesn’t shy away from provocation and rigour. There is a real “back and forth” in the room and Rachel intuitively knows what the actor needs in any given moment. She likes and respects actors and believe me that is not always the case with directors.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Faith Healer?
Come and see a great work given a really bold and uncompromising production. It will leave you breathless and haunt you.
