Faith Healer

About the show

The play consists of four parts, with a monologue making up each part. The monologues are given, in order, by Hardy himself; his wife, Grace; his manager, Teddy, and finally Hardy again. The monologues tell the story of Hardy, including an incident in a Welsh village in which he cures ten people. Teddy's monologue reveals that Grace dies by suicide, while Hardy ponders whether his gift is real or not. In Hardy’s second monologue, it is suggested that he is beaten to death for his failure to heal a cripple. He says that he knows he will not be able to heal him and, going to face death, he feels a sense of homecoming. From Teddy’s preceding monologue it is made explicit however, that Hardy is actually killed.