The Price – Marylebone Theatre, Marylebone

Writer: Arthur Miller
Director: Jonathan Munby

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

“Tense Family Drama“

3.5 / 5

The New York home that Victor and Walter Franz grew up in, is scheduled to be pulled down, sending the walls, and their memories crumbling to the floor. A lifetime of their late father’s possessions remain in the attic, with the two estranged brothers at the end of the decision of what on earth to do with all that stuff.

With Walter M.I.A, Victor (Elliot Cowan) makes the executive decision to contact an appraiser, offering the entire contents of the house in the hope to raise some money and offset the lowly police pension he’s due to receive. But much to his wife Esther’s (Faye Castelow) annoyance, he’s never been good at negotiating at the best of times, let alone when he’s up against 89 year old Gregory Solomon (Henry Goodman), who has his sales pitch downpat after years of experience. What neither of them expected, was that just when they’re at the cusp of closing the deal, Walter (John Hopkins) would show up and make suggestions of his own.

Miller’s post-depression play has managed to stand the test of time, the brotherly tension and humorous interactions with Solomon making for an enjoyable show that slowly and quietly builds an extensive picture of their family background. The first half is very comedic, Goodman is a fantastic Gregory Solomon, wittering away about his life and launching into long, unrelated tangents to avoid nailing down a price for his offer, much to the dismay of Victor. The back and forth between the pair feels natural, yet skilfully done, and despite understanding and equally feeling the annoyance of Solomon’s selling style, it never transitions into actual audience annoyance, which is credit to Goodman’s expert comedic timing and endearing character portrayal.

The second act of the show in comparison becomes noticeably heavier, Solomon confined off-stage for the most of it, and the focus shifting to Victor and Walter hashing out their unresolved grievances. It begins with well-paced, guarded dialogue between Cowan and Hopkins, neither fully showing their hand or expressing too much emotion, which eases the audience into their fractured relationship. As they get deeper into their long-held issues, there are some intriguing reveals and explosive interactions, but it does begin to feel mostly repetitive, losing some of the earlier spark and becoming a bit of a slow trudge to the end as they talk in circles, revisiting the same points over and over. Occasionally Castelow steps in with interjections and Goodman pops out of the bedroom off-stage with a humorous quip, which helps to break up the otherwise waning tension, but it isn’t quite enough to break past the familiar ground being trodden.

Jon Bausor’s set design is wonderful, immediately conveying the confined, cluttered attic, filled to the brim with antiques and trinkets. The cast make effective use of the space, naturally navigating around old items, their movements aligning with the naturalistic dialogue to enhance the overall sense of realism.

Runs until 7th June 2026