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The Price
|
The Price Now at the Apollo, Shaftesbury Avenue W1 With Its Cast Intact.
byBen Clover
The fabulous set by Anthony Lamble crams a mansion's worth of pre-1920s Crash furniture into a small Manhattan apartment, a triumph of rickety authenticity. The acting is similarly impressive, all the wit and finely judged performances on display at Kilburn are present at the Apollo. In fact, the difference in the two spaces enhances the scope of the play. As the audience is drawn into the communication breakdowns and revelations of the second half, we have to re-focus, zoom out again at the end and in doing so realise how far we have been drawn in. It's not the Miller play you might most want to see on a big stage : The Crucible? A View From The Bridge? Those would be a treat indeed, but The Price is terrific drama on a street where it is less and less expected. CURRENT PRODUCTION NOTES The Price by Arthur Miller Directed by Sean Holmes Designed by Anthony Lamble Starring: Warren Mitchell With: Larry Lamb, Sian Thomas, Des McAleer Lighting Designer: Simon Bennison Sound Designer: Mike Thacker Running time: Two hours thirty minutes with one interval Box Office: 0870 890 1101 Booking to 17th January 2004 Re-reviewed by Ben Clover based on 11th September 2003 Performance at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London (Tube Station: Leicester Square) |
The Original Review by Lizzie Loveridge
|
The average family, they love each other like crazy . . . . until the parents die.
-- Solomon |
Larry Lamb as Victor and Warren Mitchell as Solomon
(Photo: John Haynes) |
The Price is about something we can all relate to, the sad way in which families fall out, nursing grievances over the years founded on bad communication. The play seems somewhat unbalanced. The first half is a splendid laugh fest, dominated by the wonderful negotiations, laced with the Jewish humour and wisdom of Solomon who has come to buy the contents of the apartment. The second is altogether darker as long held preconceptions are challenged and the family re-examine long held attitudes to each other. There are plenty of skeletons in Victor's father's closet.
Sean Holmes' slick production has wonderful performances. Gregory Solomon enters in an extreme coughing fit, spluttering his way onstage in a theatrical coup. Warren Mitchell is a star as he delays the negotiations by producing his picnic of hard boiled egg and orange and saying his prayers before eating. His timing is exquisite. His affectionate portrayal of the octogenarian wheeler dealer whose stories, like his boiled egg, need to be taken with a dash of salt, is stellar. Solomon is both endearing and exasperating. With his head in his hands at the difficulty of reaching a decision, he manipulates the affable policeman at every turn. There are anecdotes from his colourful life, "I got married at 75, 54 and 23!" and some great advice. His attempts to enforce the agreed closure of the deal reach a pinnacle when he tells Victor's wife to keep out of it. "Darling, leave it to the boys!"
Larry Lamb does tremendously well too as the policeman with no ambition, who has made only nineteen arrests in twenty eight years. His accent sounded perfect to me and Lamb's performance has exactly the right amount of good-natured apathy. I was convinced that Victor was a good man. Des McAleer's camel coated, successful doctor, the almost smarmy Walter, keeps us guessing as to whether he is the selfish careerist Victor has thought him all these years of silent feud. I really liked the steel hard efficiency with which Walter comes up with the charitable donation scam. This man is an opportunist. Sian Thomas plays Esther, Victor's pushy wife, with her "champagne taste, beer income", who tries to give Victor some ambition.
Anthony Lamble's dark set is correctly filled with enough used furniture to make it look like an dingy antique shop. Solomon is right when he says people shouldn't get emotional with used furniture.
Like Greek tragedy, no player has all the right on their side. We all cling to illusions. Arthur Miller's development of his characters is finely honed, and although The Price may not be his most literary drama, it is a very satisfying evening in the theatre and well worth the schlep to Kilburn. Do not miss this opportunity to see the masterly Warren Mitchell treading the boards!
LINKS
Curtain Up's overview of Arthur Miller's life and work which includes links to two other reviews of The Price
| The Price
by Arthur Miller Directed by Sean Holmes Designed by Anthony Lamble Starring: Warren Mitchell With: Larry Lamb, Sian Thomas, Des McAleer Lighting Designer: Simon Bennison Sound Designer: Rich Walsh Running time: Two hours thirty minutes with one interval Box Office: 020 7328 1000 Showing to 7th December 2002 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 28th October 2002 performance at the Tricycle, Kilburn High Road, London NW6 |
Mendes at the Donmar
Our Review
Peter Ackroyd's History of London: The Biography
London Sketchbook
Somewhere For Me, a Biography of Richard Rodgers
At This Theater
Ridiculous!The Theatrical Life & Times of Charles Ludlam
The New York Times Book of Broadway: On the Aisle for the Unforgettable Plays of the Last Century
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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