SHERMAN — The Sherman Players will present a production of Faith Healer by the acclaimed Irish playwright Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa, Philadelphia Here I Come), September 19 to October 5. Performances will be at Sherman Playhouse, 5 Route 39 North (just behind the Sherman Firehouse) in Sherman.

A beautifully written play told in four monologues, Friel explores the fallibility of memory and the complex interplay of love, loyalty, loss, and despair. Set in the remote and forgotten corners of the British Isles, faith healer Frank Hardy offers the promise of redemption to the sick and the suffering.

His is an unreliable gift, however, a dangerous calling which brings him into conflict with his wife Grace and his manager Teddy. Their competing accounts of past events reveal the fragility of memory and the necessity of stories as a means of survival.

The Observer notes: “The writing is beautiful, supple, rhythmical, charged with the slow, sure throb of despair and enchantment ... Brian Friel is the most profound and poetic of contemporary Irish dramatists.”

In The New York Times, Ben Brantley found the play “became a sort of touchstone for me in understanding not only Mr Friel’s work with a depth I hadn’t appreciated before but also for defining the elusiveness of great art and the pain of the artist who creates it.”

Faith Healer premiered on Broadway in 1979 in a production starring James Mason as Frank and directed by Jose Quintero. It returned to Broadway in 2006 with a cast featuring Ralph Fiennes, Cherry Jones and Ian McDiarmid. More recently, it was mounted at London’s Donmar Warehouse in 2016 and featured Stephen Dillane as Frank.

The Sherman production features veteran area actors Matthew Bogen of West Haven as Frank, Priscilla Squiers of Danbury as Grace, and Bruce Tredwell of Brewster, N.Y. as Teddy.

Bogen’s dramatic credits include the title role in King Lear, Terra Nova (Scott), Julius Caesar (Caesar), Noises Off (Lloyd), Macbeth (once as Lennox and once as Macduff), Blithe Spirit (Bradman), Moon Over Buffalo (Paul), Taming of the Shrew (Hortensio), The Lion in Winter (once as Philip and one as Geoffrey), and Our Town (Gibbs).

His musical credits include roles in Sweeney Todd, Sugar, Man of La Mancha, and Guys and Dolls. As a director, he has helmed productions of Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Macbeth, The Tempest, Our Town, The Lion in Winter and The Actor’s Nightmare.

Squiers has appeared on numerous local stages, most recently as Dr Livingstone in Agnes of God for Westport Community Theater and Stratford’s Square One Theatre, and as Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd at Downtown Cabaret Theatre.

Among other favorite roles are Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir, Maria Callas in Master Class, Baruska in Once, Mrs Kendal in The Elephant Man, Kate in Dancing at Lughnasa, Emily in The Belle of Amherst, Vivie in Mrs Warren’s Profession, Rosalind in As You Like It, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nina in The Seagull, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Emma Goldman in both Assassins and Ragtime.

No stranger to local stages, Tredwell’s credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (George), 1984 (Syme), Tartuffe (Orgon), The Lion in Winter (Henry), A Few Good Men (Lt Kendrick), Moon Over Buffalo (George), and Lend Me a Tenor (Tito).

Among his musical credits are Peter and the Starcatcher (Mrs Bumbraker/Teacher), A Little Night Music (Fredrik), Titanic (J. Bruce Ismay), Company (Peter), The Music Man (Harold Hill), Peter Pan (Captain Hook), and roles in two of Sherman Players’ past pantomimes, Aladdin and Cinderella.

Directed by veteran director, actor and arts feature writer E. Kyle Minor of Danbury and produced by Sherman Players Artistic Director Robin Frome, the production is designed by Al Chiappetta (Sherman) and Leif Smith (Redding) and stage managed by Jenny Lynch (Kingston, N.Y.). Costumes are by Lesley Neilson-Bowman (Washington) and Dandy Barrett (Danbury) serves as production dramaturge.

To celebrate the Irish connection, the Playhouse will host pre-show Irish music sessions in the Green Room. Audience members can expect a pub atmosphere with Celtic themed music played by area musicians. The sessions will take place from 7-7:45 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1-1:45 before Sunday matinees.

Faith Healer will have a preview night on Thursday, September 18. Its regular performances are then planned for September 19-20 and 27-28 and October 3-4 at 8 pm, and September 21, 29, and October 5 at 2 pm.

A special post-performance talkback with NYU Irish Literature Professor and Brian Friel expert John P. Waters is scheduled for the second weekend of performances. (Check website for specific date.)

Tickets are $24 for adults and $12 for students with ID for regular performances. They are half price for the September 18 preview. All tickets may be purchased online at www.ticketleap.events/events/shermanplayers.

Those planning to attend a performances should note Faith Healer contains themes that may be difficult for some audiences. For more information on content, visit the Faith Healer page at shermanplayers.org. The play is not recommended for young audiences.

Faith Healer is being presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals.

For general information about Sherman Players, its season, and volunteer opportunities, visit shermanplayers.org or send email to admin@shermanplayers.org.