The Price
To begin with, as you might guess from the title, The Price does deal with money, while also working as a metaphor. That said, I think the acting tells you everything you need to know. If you are unable to let the numbers go, the programme does have a lovely inflation calculator showing prices referenced in the show in 1968 compared with 2025.
The play is deemed to be semi-autobiographical, as many of the events are linked to Miller and his family, including childhood friends, for example one joining the police. It is said to have been written as one epic manuscript which was then split between two plays, After the Fall and The Price.
The play focuses on one brother, Victor Franz (Elliot Cowan), selling a loft room full of his family’s furniture, which they have kept since before the Great Depression. A lot of the comedy and light-hearted relief comes in the form of Gregory Solomon (Henry Goodman), an antiques dealer. These two, with the addition of Esther Franz (Faye Castelow), fill the first act.
The set is just gorgeous. Set and Costume Designer Jon Bausor has created a visual feast. It is an old loft room, with a high ceiling and skylights. The room is packed with furniture and interesting things to look at: lamps, tables, stacks of chairs, not to mention fencing foils. To open the show, Cowan enters in darkness, guided by his old-fashioned yellow torch, as he takes dust covers off various pieces of furniture, turning on some of the lamps as he goes. Anna Watson, Lighting Designer, helps create the mood both with light coming in from the skylights and the on-stage lighting. This moment of exploration is accompanied by an almost cinematic score by Max Pappenheim, Sound Designer and Composer.
I love everything about this intro. Director Jonathan Munby has, in a non-verbal sequence, given us so much information and intrigue, not to mention the visual beauty of the production. The wordplay and dialogue are impressive. We are not just introduced to the characters, but find out so much about their emotional journeys without the forced exposition we are often made to endure in many modern plays. I will add that Emma Woodvine, as Dialect Coach, has worked some magic here too, with every character so believable that it transports you through time and countries.
The play between Cowan and Goodman is wonderful, and so true to life it is slightly infuriating. Goodman has come to appraise and give a quote, but spends most of the time telling stories and asking questions. At times he stands, he sits, he goes for the door, he comes back. The moment with the boiled egg had me in hysterics, along with memorable lines including the Jacobean table and an orange. But really, it is marvellous to see how the relationship between these two characters evolves, with you barely realising the shifts as they happen.
This relationship of give and take is echoed after the interval when the estranged brother, Walter Franz (John Hopkins), joins the situation. I love to watch good theatre, and this is truly great. Seeing all these characters share a stage and play between them, never overdone, always just as it should be, is a real pleasure.
As for the play itself, I am troubled. I love a clear-cut ending, and while this is clear, it does not explain or over-narrate the final plot points. When I think of what I would prefer, I find myself thinking it would be too twee and cheesy, so I am left wondering whether I might be a little out of touch with well-written intellectual dramas. Either way, this production is beautifully acted, visually rich, and full of moments that are sure to grab your attention.
This show was reviewed on the 23rd April 2026 at the Marylebone Theatre, London where it runs until the 7th June 2026. Tickets available here: The Price at Marylebone Theatre
Review written by Valentine Gale-Sides
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Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
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