The Price review: Henry Goodman steals the show
Arthur Miller is having a moment in London’s theatre scene. It’s been 80 years since the height of his success, but the West End can’t get enough of the playwright.
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In the last year alone, I’ve seen the Crucible at the Globe, Broken Glass at the Young Vic and the spectacular All My Sons at the Wyndham's Theatre. Given how much I enjoyed these three (particularly All My Sons), I jumped at the chance to see Miller’s lesser-known play The Price at the Marylebone Theatre.
In some ways, it’s classic Miller. It’s about family conflict and set in the States. And there’s plenty of the usual shouting which I’ve grown to appreciate.
But in other ways, I felt it was weaker than the three other scripts. I often judge a play based on whether I really care about the characters. In this case, I didn’t care about most of them.
One of the characters stands miles ahead of the rest: the elderly furniture dealer, played by the superb Henry Goodman. He’s called in to value and purchase mountains of cupboards and wardrobes left behind by the deceased father, who was heavily affected by the Depression.
He was nursed in old age by one son, while his other son went and made money, keeping most of it for himself. The brothers fell out and haven’t spoken until they’re reunited in their father’s attic room.
It’s incredibly tense at times, while the brothers deal with the death of their father and the sale of his belongings. It becomes about more than just a furniture sale, it’s the story of their family relationships, riddled with complexity.
Given the stress on stage at times, it’s a good job that the show is filled with humour. Goodman’s character is hilarious - he’s a rambling old man who delivers zinger after zinger. It’s just a shame that he’s hardly on stage in the second half. That’s when the play started to lose my attention.
While the concept is interesting, the staging is clever and the cast is strong, the best character is whisked off stage for great lengths of time.
I’ve got no doubt that this production will go down well at the marvellous Marylebone Theatre, but I wish we saw more of Henry Goodman: he is wonderful.
The Price is at Marylebone Theatre until 7th June.