It's good to see Compass Theatre Company, now celebrating its 25th year of touring, premiering their new production of Miller's The Price in Wakefield. It's a play that's probably performed much less frequently than other Miller classics such as Death of a Salesman or The Crucible so - forty years on - has The Price got anything to say to modern audiences? Written in 1967 the first glimpse of the stage suggests we are as far as you can get from the so-called 'Summer of Love.'Ìý Everything is brown and subdued, and the first thing we hear is 1920s music being played on an old record player. The Price is set in an attic of an old Manhattan apartment block where two brothers are about to meet for the first time in 16 years. The set, literally cluttered from top to bottom, represents the debris of a life, or maybe of a family.
 | | Solomon and Esther |
The brothers are meeting to agree on the disposal of the family's possessions. Victor (Robert G. Slade) , a New York police sergeant and his wife Esther, await the arrival of Victor's brother, Walter (Peter Banks). Victor was once a very promising science student but gave up his studies to support his father who had lost his money in the Wall Street Crash (when the US stock market crashed dramatically in one day in 1929, an event which is often seen as the beginning of the Great Depression) as did Arthur Miller's own father. Walter did not return home and went on to become a rich and successful surgeon. So far, this all sounds very remote and indeed this is the 1960s looking back at the 1920s and 30s but most of what's here is still very relevant today. "Years ago, a person was unhappy, didn't know what to do with himself, he'd go to church, start a revolution, something...Today, you're unhappy, can't figure it out, what is the salvation? Go shopping!" But The Price is about a lot more than this. Victor gets in Solomon (Stuart Richardson), a 90-year-old furniture dealer, to give him a price for the family furniture. His brother Walter arrives and, towards the end of the play, he leaves and there's really not much more than that in the way of plot but this is a drama that is dense in dialogue and dripping with ideas.
 | | Victor |
The price for the furniture has to be settled, Victor is certainly aware he has paid a big price for his decision to stay at home and look after his father. As one of the character's remarks, "There's a price people pay," and it would seem no-one is exempt. The furniture dealer Solomon would seem to be as wise as his name suggest but we discover he too has paid the price along the way as has the materially successful Walter. And, is it possible to put a price on anything anyway? This is a play about the nature of time and of individual responsibility, predominant themes in Miller's work. It's about how we invent ourselves and how we fool ourselves. More than once characters remark that they don't know what they think any more but it's also about conversations that people never get round to having.Ìý Esther proclaims: "It's a goddam farce." But, don't expect many laughs - it's more of a tragedy really but one rooted in "little everyday fears", things we all might recognise. Esther (Amanda Bellamy) is clearly discontented and clearly doesn't know what she wants but we should have some sympathy with her because she too has paid a big price because of her husband's decision. One wonders if Miller was influenced by his experience of being previously married to Marilyn Monroe when he created the character of Esther. This is a fine ensemble performance with some fine direction from Neil Sissons avoiding what could have been a very static performance. When the play was first performed in 1968 Miller came in for a lot of criticism from critics who had previously championed his work accusing him of ignoring the main political concerns of the day. It's probably that ver thing that makes it so relevant today. Go and see it if you can! [Compass Theatre Company's production of The Price premiered at Wakefield Theatre Royal on March 1st 2007 and is now touring] | 
