⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Four Stars)

“With used furniture you cannot be emotional,” appraiser Gregory Solomon repeatedly tells Victor Franz, a man, finally - 16 years after his father’s passing - looking to sell his deceased father’s possessions. However, Arthur Miller’s play about two estranged brothers reuniting as their late father’s belongings are sold manages to uncover a rich range of emotions, and this production at Marylebone Theatre, directed by Jonathan Munby, proves a strong revival of Miller’s semi-autobiographical 1967 play.

Set in 1968, we find ourselves in the attic of the Franz brothers’ childhood home where police officer Victor Franz (Elliot Cowan) and his wife Esther (Faye Castelow) meet with 89-year-old antiques appraiser Gregory Solomon (Henry Goodman) with the aim of agreeing a price for the last remnants of Victor’s father’s enormous fortune, all but obliterated by the 1929 Wall Street Crash. Victor, who missed out on a college education as a young man to care for his ailing father, is forced to confront his long-held resentment towards his brother Walter (John Hopkins), who did attend college and became a wealthy and successful doctor, as the two men attempt to equitably divide both the physical and emotional inheritances left by their father.

Elliot Cowan and John Hopkins are both excellent as the two brothers, each offering a contrasting, yet equally convincing, recollection of their younger years. However, it is Henry Goodman as Gregory Solomon who is undoubtedly the highlight of this production. From the moment the octogenarian antiques dealer enters the attic, he runs rings around the comparatively youthful Victor, bartering for the lowest price on the furniture (surely nobody would pay top prices for a Spanish Jacobean dining table now that we’re in the 1960s, and the 1920s wardrobes will never fit through the doors of modern New York apartments!), retrieving snacks from his portfolio, and recounting tales of his former life as an acrobat. In this role, Goodman is truly scene-stealing and injects so much humour into the play.

Equally impressive is the set design by Jon Bausor, whose cluttered attic perfectly captures a room frozen in time since the Franz brothers’ father’s passing. Beneath the wooden beams, dust sheets cover large, luxurious wardrobes and musical instruments, while a 1920s laughing record sits in the gramophone, waiting to be played again: each element of the design a reminder of the family’s former wealth.

Overall, The Price, though something of a marathon at 2 hours 45 minutes (including interval) is well worth the time investment - and would be worth it for Goodman’s performance alone. An enthralling exploration of the American Dream, and how two family members can have entirely different memories of their shared past, The Price ranks highly among the many Arthur Miller revivals recently brought to the London stage.

The Price runs at Marylebone Theatre until 7th June 2026.

Tickets Available Here