We take a look at how critics have been reacting to Jonathan Munby’s production of Arthur Miller’s play.
WhatsOnStage: ***** “Nobody strips bare carefully constructed characters and the downside of the American Dream like Arthur Miller, and if this isn’t one of his absolute best, it’s still a damn satisfying evening in the theatre, especially in as fine a production as this one. Highly recommended.”
The Guardian: **** “It is powerful, winding drama. You end up wondering why this angry, plaintive and deeply psychological play is not more often revived.”
Everything Theatre: **** “Under Jonathan Munby‘s direction, these two distinct halves are carefully balanced. The first is buoyed by humour and rhythm: Solomon’s digressions feel purposeful in their theatricality. Henry Goodman is mesmerizingly frenetic, imbuing the character with both mischief and pathos. His performance finds comedy in physical detail – even down to the precise business of eating a boiled egg – while never losing sight of the character’s lived experience. His delivery of Miller’s serio-comic dialogue is razor-sharp”
London Pub Theatres Magazine: **** “Although it might drag occasionally, it is still a production worth the trouble considering the astounding stage design by Jon Bausor and Goodman’s likeable portrayal. His Gregory Solomon is wily and grasping – not least for more life in his final years – but he’s also full of personality, an unforgettable characterisation. Don’t miss it!”
All That Dazzles: **** “A play is only as good as its direction, however. Thankfully, The Price is in safe hands. Jonathan Munby’s love and understanding of the play is clear to see, with his vision perfectly complementing that of Miller’s original. The heart of the story is never lost, the darker elements are never shied away from, and the comedy is always delivered perfectly. Sometimes, such extremities in a play can result in a jarring clash of tone, but Munby’s direction handles this conflict with ease.”
The Telegraph: ***** ” Humour, sharp wit and even sharper performances. The Price is masterfully reborn at Marylebone Theatre.”
London Unattached: **** “The power of Miller’s play is that while in the first half of The Price the audience is laughing in recognition of what family life is like, by the end of the second act, Miller has grabbed us, shaken us about and left us facing some truths about our own families.”
Time Out: *** “He’s a show-stopping character, played to twinkly inscrutable perfection by Goodman, whose shambolic bluster hovers beguilingly between sincerity and lived-in pragmatism as he informs Victor that these things from his past don’t have intrinsic value; it’s about what’s in style now. He’s the blunt face of capitalism in a crumpled coat.”
The Stage: **** “Consummate performances make this revival of Arthur Miller’s slow-moving story of an estate sale utterly riveting.”
Adventures in Theatreland: ***** “The Price holds a stellar cast too; headliner Henry Goodman triumphs as Gregory Solomon, cutting through the scorching family drama and injecting the show with a marvellous comedic sensibility. Faye Castelow is formidable as Esther Franz, delivering a rich and nuanced performance that she clearly believes so authentically which allows the audience to find the humour laced in her character. Her other half Victor Franz holds the show together like glue under Elliott Cowan’s portrait. Consistently remaining present and believable throughout this almost three hour performance is no small feat, yet Cowan comes so naturally to it that it feels like one.”
London Theatre Reviews:**** 1/2 “Director Jonathan Munby does a wonderful job bringing family conflict to life on this packed set of physical belongings in terms of all the furniture and metaphorical themes. Everything about it is real.”
Theatre Weekly: ***** “The play dives into a mixing pot of race, culture and class, and looks at the rising and falling of fortunes and families, an amazingly relatable blueprint of post-war America, perfectly written by Miller and expertly represented in this adaptation. The entire audience was on its feet as soon as the final curtain came down.”
The FT: ” Goodman is exquisite in the role, bringing pinpoint comic timing to Solomon’s moves and ambiguity to his motives — even stopping, mid-negotiation, to eat a hard-boiled egg. As time goes on, his identity feels increasingly intriguing, landing somewhere between ersatz father figure and JB Priestley’s mysterious inspector: a galvanising presence who unlocks the resentments dividing the two brothers.”
The Price continues to play at the Marylebone Theatre until the 7th June.