Stanford's Summer Theater : Brian Friel

BRIAN FRIEL AND OTHER IRISH VOICES

JULY 7-AUGUST 18, 2008

Stanford University never goes half-way and now that Rush Rehm is the Artistic Director of it theater program it presents amazingly interesting provocative drama done better than one would think possible on a college campus. This year’s summer theater event is a case in point. This it the tenth anniversary of the ten week festival and it features unforgettable Irish plays and films not seen often enough on local stages.

There is a free Monday night film series at 7:00 pm in Cubberley Auditorium that examines Irish cinema and adds a post-screening discussion led by Bay Area film scholars. The films remaining are THE CYRING GAME, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER & THE COMITMENTS all classics in their own right. For me, of course it is the plays that take my breath away.

Brian Friel is often called the Irish Chekhov and is considered Ireland’s most distinguished living playwright. The play I saw was TRANSLATIONS and I am still gasping at the marvelous, intricate and yet simple set and the immense force of a drama that tells us that we speak volumes to each other but do not understand what we hear. Geoff Hoyle was the patriarchal schoolmaster in that play and it was directed by SST Associate Director Ed Sylvanus.

Following this play, Rush Rehm will direct FAITH HEALER, a sensitive, emotional and often funny tour de force that delves into the fears and loyalties that surround Frank Hardy, an itinerant miracle worker. Although TRANSLATIONS is one of Friel’s most often produced plays, THE FAITH HEALER is considered his masterpiece. It interweaves the stories of Hardy and his wife Grace and his manager Teddy as they recount their lives together on the road.

Rush Rehm is one of the most talented directors and actors I have ever seen on a stage and anything he touches is golden to me. FAITH HEALER will open this Thursday, July 31 and offers pay what-you-like matinees at 2 pm and I promise it is not to be missed. Rehm has shown his students and the Bay Area play-going public how powerful and exciting the theater experience can be. I have never seen a production of his that didn’t change my way of thinking about my own life and the world I live in.

Put this play and these movies on your must-see list. No matter where you live, it is well worth the journey to see fine drama so sensitively executed. If TRANSLATIONS is any indication of the quality of this series, you will be delighted and amazed and walk away with new insight into the human condition and your role in it.

IF YOU GO:

FAITH HEALER plays from Thursday July 31-Sunday August 17 at 8:00 pm at the Pigott Theater in the back of Memorial Hall on the Stanford campus

Post show discussions: Thursday August 7&14

Pay what you can matinees on Sundays at2

TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION:

http://summertheater.stanford.edu