Review - The Price - Chesil Theatre, Winchester

(Review published in the Hampshire Chronicle on Thursday May 15th)

Chesil Theatre’s latest production in their 150th season of plays is ‘The Price’ by Arthur Miller, directed by Tom Williams.  The true meaning of “the price” gradually unfolds across the course of the play, moving in a parallel between a broker estimating the value of a family’s old furniture, to the price of moral debt and self-sacrifice in a world where every man is out for themselves.  Williams’ direction hits each marker quite poignantly, and in this sense we follow the story fluidly.  

The action takes place in the attic room of a brownstone house in New York – Victor and Walter Franz’ old home – that is due for demolition.  For Chesil Theatre’s production, David Woodward’s set design beautifully encapsulates the aesthetic of a jumble sale of treasured possessions, from a record player to a rowing oar.  Most stunning of these items is a harp loaned to the theatre by Affairs of the Harp, whose strings are playfully plucked by the characters at opportune moments to haunting effect.

Characterised by the delicate sound of the harp, there is a certain stillness to this play which this production would have benefited from paying closer attention to.  In this respect, a level of nerves over cues and line delivery did hinder the audience’s ability to follow the story, because without confident pauses, we didn’t get a chance to recognise how a character was actually feeling, and in many instances a sudden outburst of anger appeared to develop from nowhere.  Although Williams conveys the aforementioned dual notion of ‘the price’ clearly, it would have been given more weight had the actors allowed the text to breathe.

Otherwise, the shifts in dynamic between the characters, particularly through moments in the text when a truth is revealed, are delicious for the audience to witness.  The tense relationship between Victor and Walter, played by Eric Petterson and David Baldwin respectively, is clear, and Maria Head’s interjections as Victor’s wife Esther Franz are ripe with frustration and an innocent will for them to reconcile.  Following this interchange is a moving monologue from Petterson, explaining how he came to pay the price of sacrificing his dream career in order to care for his father.  Throughout this monologue, you could have heard a pin drop in the auditorium.

In good contrast, Noel Thorpe-Tracey’s portrayal of the Jewish-Russian 89 year-old broker, Gregory Solomon, grounds the play very well with light relief between altercations that lifts the audience from the otherwise emotionally-driven dialogue.  For the authenticity of his accent in particular, special mention must go to Karen Miller’s work as the dialogue coach.  

Chesil Theatre have struck bravely at Arthur Miller’s 1968 play on the price of knowing the truth, and it is an intriguing, atmospheric production.