The Price

by Arthur Miller

seen at Wyndhams Theatre on 6 March 2019

Jonathan Church directs Brendan Coyle and Adrian Lukis as two brothers, Vincent and Walter, with Sarah Stewart as Vincent's wife Esther and David Suchet as Gregory Solomon, an elderly second-hand furniture dealer, in a fiftieth anniversary production of Arthur Miller's play about the costs and misunderstandings of filial loyalty played out as the brothers meet after sixteen years to dispose of their father's property.

In an astonishing set designed by Simon Higlett to represent a lifetime's clutter, with chairs, desks and other bric-a-brac climbing surrealistically angled walls almost to hang from the ceiling, Vincent, a policeman nearing his retirement,  has returned to his father's apartment many years after the latter's death to dispose of all the moveables since the building is about to be demolished. This being an Arthur Miller play, the event is fraught with complex memories and resentments, revealed partly through the tense discussion with his wife when she arrives, when it becomes clear that Walter, the successful doctor brother, has been estranged from Vincent for many years and has not answered calls to help deal with this current crisis.

At this point Solomon, the dealer whom Vincent has contacted through the phone book, arrives, and provides through a comic surface of Brooklyn-Jewish affectionate caricature, a masterclass in how an astute businessman - even in his 89th year - might run rings round a fundamentally decent and naive client, all the while offering resonant commentary on price and value, both economic and sentimental. When Walter unexpectedly arrives, Solomon's part is effectively over except for some pointed interventions, and the sorry history of fraternal rivalry and misunderstanding plays out, masterfully managed so that neither emerges with full credit, but also neither as solely responsible for the long break. The father, too, now long deceased, remains a contradictory figure, neither exonerated nor execrated for his secrecy and insecurity. 

Only a fine cast can pull off this potentially melodramatic stew of emotion and recrimination, and, in Solomon's case, avoid the danger of being stereotypically comic, and in this production everyone rises to the occasion. Brendan Coyle portrays Vincent's innate ethical purity, half aware that it leads him to quixotic decisions but nonetheless convinced that it is the only way to behave, while Sarah Stewart shows us Esther's exasperation without becoming shrill or vicious. When Walter arrives, Adrian Lukis displays the doctor's superficial assurance and bland charm, but also the precarious dignity of someone emerging from domestic crisis and personal breakdown, and the baffled pain of someone who feels he is in some ways the rejected son. In the meantime, David Suchet's performance as Gregory Solomon is simply dazzling and yet perfectly judged so as not to unbalance the whole structure of the play. 

It's a real pleasure to watch such a fine team interpret Arthur Miller's work.