The Price

Synopsis

A story of the rifts, revelations and secrets of two brothers who have followed different paths in life. One is a highly successful doctor, the other a cop working the beat. The two have been briefly re-united and are forced to face up to their past and the price of the choices they have made. Old grudges fall onto the dusty attic floor in this powerful moving and amusing play.

Our Review:

15 March 2011

The Price is one of Arthur Miller’s most successful plays, having premiered in 1968 and been regularly revived ever since.  

The play is an exploration of family dynamics and the consequences of poor decisions, themes that are universal and timeless, which means that forty years on the relationship between the estranged brothers maintains a resonance with a modern audience.

That said, Act One is really long winded and quite boring with little in the way of plot or character development. The second Act, however, builds nicely upon the back story and cthe omplex relationship between the brothers is brought to life through a series of clever and unpredictable revelations of home truths and secrets.

It’s a typically solid Octagon Theatre production with the claustrophobic set designed by Patrick Conellan filling the performance space leaving little room for the actors to move. This is a good thing, ho...

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Latest User Review

Inga - 19 March 2011:

A wonderfully realised exploration of the characters' relationship with one another - Tom Mannion and Colin Stinton bring the complexities of the circumstances and traits which formed their decisions in the past to life and, as they trip one another's memories and emotions, show another moment of decision take shape with dramatic inevitability. It's a very apt play for this time as well - the constant references to money and to price, the clash between moral and financial imperatives, the constant presence of the Great Depression and its aftermath - all have a bearing on our current situation and the continuing power of the dead hand of capital on our society. This was an absorbing experience - don't miss it!...

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