Review: THE PRICE at Theatrical Outfit

On stage at Theatrical Outfit until May 3rd, Arthur Miller's THE PRICE showcases the same team who made a previous Atlanta favorite, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY with director Matt Torney. This late-career Miller treasure takes place in a New York brownstone attic where two estranged brothers reunite after their father’s death. While assessing the value of dusty furniture, they confront the lasting cost of a lifetime of choices. 

At the top of the play, the energy and premise is deceptively simple: get an appraisal, make some money, move on. But with each passing minute, there's more time for the surrounding furnishings to influence the remaining members of a long ago family who once used them. If you hold on to pieces of the past long enough, will it change what happened? Will it change the future? The longer these survivors linger, the more difficult it is to say goodbye...and hello.

Eric Mendenhall’s Victor Franz is, at first, a hero filtered through years of contained frustration and acceptance, while Andrew Benator’s Walter Franz offers a contrasting ease that resists becoming villainous. Soon, both Mendenhall and Benator reveal new, challenging layers of nuance with ease, achieving Miller's wish, making any protagonist/antagonist relation futile. There's love in their work and it shows. Carra Mantella’s Esther Franz exudes a pragmatic urgency that simultaneously conflicts with a lighthearted after party glow. Her presence creates the kind of someone that everyone wants to watch. Brian Kurlander’s Gregory Solomon provides an expert counterbalance to the familial strain. His skill at landing humor and truth is derived from his expert physical authenticity and voice. He has managed to channel the soul of someone no longer here but aching to be heard.

Theatrical Outfit's designers capture the oppressive tension of watching an hourglass battle gravity, only it's quicksand and everyone who climbs up the stairs to the attic will lose more than their footing once rescued from the sinkhole. Scenic Design by Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay, Costume Design by April Andrew Carswell, Lighting Design by Rachael N. Blackwell, and Sound Design by Rashaad Pierre mold an environment that holds a creeping, slow death while quietly illuminating the elements underlying life.

Go see this beautiful production. Arthur Miller lovers will especially revel in the work of one of America's recognized geniuses of the stage. Theatrical Outfit's THE PRICE will have you thinking about the power of theatre, family, capitalizm, and love. You'll leave the show wondering what will you'll value in your distant future and what you'd pay just to look back.

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