Arthur Miller's The Price at the Walnut Street Theatre

Theater: Walnut Street Theatre
Show Title: The Price
Opened: January 15, 2008
Seen: January 23, 2008
Reviewer: Gary Labowitz
Submitted: January 24, 2008
The Walnut Street Theatre presents “The Price” by Arthur Miller, directed by Michael Carleton. Jan. 15 – March 2
825 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA

The Walnut Street Theatre has done it again … literally. Arthur Miller’s “The Price” was first performed at the Walnut in January, 1968. Here it is again. Too long a wait to see this gem of Miller’s, but the play has been in New York and other “area” stages around Philadelphia over the years. This may be the definitive version.

The story is about two brothers (one accompanied by his wife) who meet in the attic of the Brownstone in which they lived many years ago. The mother’s death and the Depression left the father and one brother, Victor, living in the attic of the house. A second brother, Walter, left the family to become a surgeon. Walter contributed $5 a week to the attic-family, leaving Victor and, after his marriage, his wife to support the father. The father’s death sixteen years ago left the brothers estranged.

After 16 years of separation the brothers must come together, meeting in the attic, to dispose of the household items which have been stored all the years in the attic. The Brownstone is to be torn down or we can assume they never would bother.

The tension between the brothers is due to the smoldering resentment the brother Victor has at his brother’s abandonment of them after the Depression. He struggled to survive, gave up his schooling, and became a NYC cop at civil servant wages while his brother went on to become a successful surgeon.

Into this setting we get a wisecracking, but truly wise, used furniture dealer, Gregory Solomon. He is almost retired and doesn’t really want to buy the household and go back to full time work. He also means to stay aloof from the confrontation that boils up between the brothers, but can’t stop himself from making pithy and stinging comments to the family. The play’s title ostensibly comes from the fact that the furniture dealer must give the brothers a price for the lot. Victor is indecisive and doesn’t want to haggle; Walter wants not to be “cheated” of the furniture’s value.

The brothers begin to see that each of them (and, indeed, all of us) paid a price whenever they made a decision that led their lives into the directions they took. Their misjudgments of what price the other paid and their dissatisfaction of the outcomes give us the meanings buried in the story. We all, each individually and with our close associates, pay a price every time we make a life’s decision. And we all leave behind an “attic” of memories which must be disposed of some day.

This play aptly delivers the moral. The brothers and Victor’s wife, Esther, provide all the guidance we need to see it. The used furniture dealer, Mr. Solomon, firmly drives the point home, but from a disinterested, dare I say “Solomon like," point of view. Fortunately for us, the viewers, director Michael Carleton has his small cast play their parts in a subdued fashion so the preaching is kept to a subtle minimum.

To the play’s benefit, the cast is remarkably suited and suitable to the task of drawing an audience into the play. Robert Prosky as Gregory Solomon is as weary, charming and disarming as he needs to be to deal in furniture. At the same time he is incisive and insightful. The role can easily devolve into a stereotype of a sharp dealing, Jewish merchant, but Mr. Prosky keeps the performance out of that trap. He is true class on the stage.

The brothers, Andy Prosky as Victor and John Prosky as Walter, are … well … brothers. Brother, do they turn in a performance! They clearly separate the two brothers on all levels: their physical 16 year separation; their separate live paths; their separate understandings of their parents; and their distrust of one another. The power of the show is in their performances. I suspect each audience member will pick a favorite. I tend to favor Victor, the “failure-failure,” but I can see where one could favor Walter, the “success-failure.” Leisa Mather as the wife, Esther, is along for the ride. She does the job needed without drawing attention to herself or her character. Sometimes supporting roles look the easiest but are the hardest to play.

The set gives Robert Kramer the challenge (and the fun) of loading the stage for this one-act drama. It is all the furnishing and old stuff that gets you thinking about the past. We are presented with an attic of memories. The set reminded me of the computer games where you must search for and find hidden objects in the time allotted (Mystery P.I., Peril at End House, and the like). At the intermission (did I say it was a one-act play?) I spent some time searching for hidden objects. See if you can find a deer’s head, two empty picture frames, a phonograph, two trunks, a horse’s head, a sled, a violin, a rocking horse, a mantle clock. As for the play being one-act, we get an intermission, but it is “stop action” and we resume exactly where we left off. It felt like one act!

The play leaves us with no answers, just the questions of life. “What happened to my life?” “What should I do now?” “What is the price?” “Is it a fair one?”

Why did the Walnut wait so long to bring back this wonderful play? I’m glad they did, and I’m glad to have seen it. You will be, too.

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