BWW Interviews: FAITH HEALER's Stuart Hughes

By: May. 13, 2010
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Faith Healer opened on April 29th 2010 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. A masterwork of twentieth-century Irish drama, the show is a disturbing and humourous mediation on relationships and the truth/lies that bind us together.

The show features three characters - faith healer Frank, his companion Grace and his promoter Teddy - and all three characters tell conflicting versions of the same story. Written by Brian Friel, the show begs the question" "is there such a thing as truth or do we simply weave our own tales?"

Faith Healer first opened on Broadway in 1979 and then returned in 2006 where it earned four Tony Award nominations and won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play. The latest production by Soulpepper is directed by Gina Wilkinson and features founding members Stuart Hughes and Diego Matamoros as well as Brenda Robins.

BWW sat down and spoke with Stuart Hughes about the production, as well as his personal experiences with faith, love, loss and life after death.

In Faith Healer, you are getting the opportunity to work with two people you have known for thirty years. Is it almost a bit of a homecoming to share the stage with them?

Most definitely it feels like a homecoming, which of course is a huge notion in Brian Friels play "The Faith Healer". I can still remember the first time I met Brenda on the cricket field up at Shaw Festival. She was this amazing force and talent who had just arrived from the West coast. Diego and I crossed paths while I was still in University and we worked together in a production of the Three Sisters under the direction of Lazlo Martin, who has been such a strong influence on the Soulpepper Company. We have had many laughs over the years. Gina Wilkinson and I have known one another also for many years and worked closely together as actors, and now I get the pleasure of working with her as she assuredly guides this ship directorially. So when I look across the rehearsal room and see them, I also see the shared history and the triumphs and struggles of thirty years. It exists between us all with an unspoken acknowledgement. It has a familial parallel, which can be tapped into for the particular journey the characters in this play go on; twenty years of traveling together through the Celtic countryside like a gypsy sideshow.

Given the heavy tone of the material, how do you keep your performances fresh and stay focused every night?

Like any show, any individual performance is always informed by the passage of that particular day. Of course there is a very strong structure, a skeleton that we have created in rehearsal that is required to tell the tale most effectively. But the energy of that particular twenty-four hours can be and should be integrated and validated in a way. It's where we are living at that particular moment, and with discretion, needs to be given some part in the immediate living experience. It has to be negotiated in some way. The audience is different every evening. They come to this meeting with their own restlessness, their own exhilarations, their own cares and their own needs, collectively unique to that day. They have to be approached and met with the respect and awareness of a first greeting. I also find the show is peppered with great humour and irony. Despite the darker hues, this story, like all great stories, has wit and mirth to make the pain palatable. The experience is deliciously inclusive of the light and dark.


Your character experiences a lot of self-doubt - as an actor do you find that spills over into your performance or affects you before you hit the stage?

I think there is always a human moment before each show, any show, when we as artists, ask ourselves are we going to succeed today, are we going to be visited by the muse, the creative spirits, that will allow us to do our part with all the ease and drive necessary to make the story resonate? Will technique and craftsmanship come together with that unspeakable portion, that delight and magic of playing that creates an experience of celebration? Yes that doubt, that questioning comes to me. I think it comes to all of us, whatever our occupations. And then it becomes an issue of Faith. If we have done our best to be prepared, then we must simply walk out and begin talking. And listening.

Belief in Faith Healers is certainly controversial, but most people at least have opinions on what happens after death and what might await on the other side. Would you share your personal views on this topic with us?

I can only believe that what lies beyond is devoid of all the angst and agony of doubt, and has the calming balm of gentle and loving assurance.

I read recently about the passing of your Mother and want to offer my sincerest condolences. Losing a loved one makes topics such as these resonate much more. Did her passing affect the way you approached the material?

Thank you, and yes. It couldn't help but inform my approach to this play, this particular production. I was keenly aware of the mortal references in the play. Also the seeking within this character to find purpose and meaning in his journey. I see the strength of my Father and brothers, and contemplate what makes a good journey. What is at the nut of this gift we have been given, and for really such a brief time? What is important? What is responsibility? What is the best way to live an effective life? When do we, in our dysfunction and fear, impose unnecessary impediments to living robustly? I miss her very much, and yet feel her very strongly with me in the wings when I look up into the fly loft before I go on.

As a Founding Soulpepper member, how do you feel about this year's Academy?

I have not been around for much of this academies' residence. However what I have seen is very impressive. I sometimes look enviously at younger artists with this kind of talent, and go, "my god, I wish I had that kind of ease and confidence when I was their age." I just saw them in a beautiful production of "Oh What a Lovely War", directed by Albert Schultz and I was enthralled. I was truly blown away by their versatility and presence. I hope to get the opportunity to work with them in the years coming.

Having been in the business a long time and an integral part of the Soulpepper family, if you could offer one piece of advice to up and comers on the Canadian theatre scene, what would it be?

Keep learning. Whatever that means to each individual. Be curious. I think when we start to believe we have it all sewn up, that is exactly when we stop listening and learning - and therefore cease to be open to healthy challenge. We stop being stretched and spurred to grow. We become repeaters of comfortable patterns. It is a balance. Having the ease to stand tall with what we do know, but keeping open to the idea that we all have more to learn. It's not an occupation for the faint of heart, so be kind and generous to yourselves and others.

And enjoy. Take delight and celebrate in the process. Don't be afraid of the occasional stumble. It's in the falling down that we can find big solutions. Have ease in knowing that it is never about perfection but the process.

When and Where?
Faith Healer

The Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Mill Street, Building 49, Toronto

Performance Schedule:
April 29th - June 4th

Tickets range from $29-$70 and can be purchased in person at the box office, by phone at 416-866-8666 or online at www.soulpepper.ca

There are $20 tickets available for people aged 21-30 through StagePlay at www.stageplay.ca Stageplay is sponsored by TD Bank Financial



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