Publisher's Synopsis
Rehearsal Diary (Faith Healer, 1979) is Brian Friel's riveting account of the ill-fated attempt to bring the text of Faith Healer from the page to the Broadway stage for its world premi?re. Despite the commitment of the celebrated actor James Mason ('Eager to establish his Britishness') and the director Jos? Quintero ('he's smoking grass') rehearsals quickly collapse into a series of tensions and irreparable clashes. For anyone interested in the workings of contemporary theatre or, more specifically, Brian Friel or his play that is now recognized as a masterpiece this is compulsive reading. Completely candid, it is, ultimately, a story of all that might go wrong and, unwittingly, a self-portrait of a distinctly valiant writer.
