THE PRICE. To 28 March.
Liverpool/Nottingham.
THE PRICE
by Arthur Miller.
Liverpool Playhouse To 28 February.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Thu 1.30pm & Sat 2pm.
Audio-described 26 Feb 7.30pm.Captioned 28 Feb 7.30pm.
TICKETS: 0151 709 4776.
www.everymanplayhouse.com
then Nottingham Playhouse 11-28 March 2009.
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Mat 22 March 2.30pm 26 March 1.30pm.
TICKETS: 0115 941 9419.
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Runs 2hr 40min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 21 February.
Rich ruminations revealed in dark glory.
There are lots of laughs in Arthur Miller’s fine 1968 drama, but they’re confined to the start and end. Amid the attic relics of his dead parents’ about-to-be-demolished house, policeman Victor Franz finds a wind-up gramophone with a laughing song. At first it’s a curiosity; at the end, where it’s discovered by 89-year old Jewish dealer Gregory Solomon, the record prompts him to laughter in the face of human nature.
For Solomon has seen it all. A Jewish Lithuanian and juggler turned house-clearer, retired then recalled to business by Vic, he’s one of those who bounce back. Unlike Vic’s father during the 1930s Depression. In response to his father’s defeatism Victor gave up his career to be a carer, while brother Walter put himself first, becoming a successful doctor.
The price fetched by the mound of goods climbing towards the ceiling near the back of Dawn Allsopp’s dark-textured set (including the suspended chairs that have become a cliché of modern stage design) is only the first level of costs involved in the probing of the dark past and the consequences of human choice. “I never gave you a price,” says Solomon at one point. When he does it’s one that dissatisfies the more financially aware of the Franz family. On financial and moral levels, there’s a lot of slugging it out in this play.
Round One is the battle between Vic and his wife Esther, with her sense of failure. There’s tension in Elaine Claxton’s performance, continuing into the post-interval final bout between the brothers, as Solomon repeatedly bouncing back into the action. Here Esther’s mainly silent; it’s Robin Kingsland’s Victor against David Beames’ smart-coated Walter, his generosity over the sale proceeds contrasting his probing of Victor’s long-matured resentment.
Beames, last to enter, brings a confidence contrasting both Jon Rumney’s wheezing climb and Robin Kingsland’s slow examination of artefacts from a remembered past. It’s the first time the brothers have spoken in 16 years and as sociable greetings wear down to sore truths Kingsland and Beames reveal an underlying difference of temperament that gives universality to the richly detailed script.
Victor Franz: Robin Kingsland.
Esther Franz: Elaine Caxton.
Gregory Solomon: Jon Rumney.
Walter Franz: David Beames.
Director: Giles Croft.
Designer: Dawn Allsopp.
Lighting: Nick Richings.
Sound: Jenny Tallon Cahill.
2009-02-24 02:09:10