Review - The Price

The Price

Shattered Globe Theatre

2257 N. Lincoln Ave.

http://www.shatteredglobe.org

Playwright Arthur Miller lived a long and interesting life. Dying in 2005, at the ripe age of 89, Miller was an iconic figure in the world of theatre and cinema. Considered one of America’s best playwrights, his 1948 Death of a Salesman is widely acclaimed as the best American play ever written.

Along with his 4-year marriage to Marilyn Monroe, Miller also gained notoriety in other ways, particularly for his political leanings. Briefly a member of the Communist Party in the 1930’s, Miller was sentenced in 1952 to a month in prison and $500 fine by the “House Un-American Activities Committee” (of which Richard Nixon was a member), for refusing to reveal names of other “un-American” artists. But worse than the prison sentence and fine, Miller was placed on the committee’s black-list, hurling Miller into an artistic chasm that took him years to dig out of - no producer or writer was willing to collaborate with him for fear of being accused of abetting a Communist, and thus placed on the same black-list themselves. And it is for this that Miller, and the world, paid the biggest price - who knows how many great works were squelched, works that the public was denied, all because politicians deemed that he was not “American” enough.

Interestingly, Shattered Globe’s outstanding production of Miller’s 1969 drama, The Price, examines this same type of loss - the price people pay and suffer from decisions and situations occurring in their past, whether or not in their control, and whether or not they’re actually true.

Set entirely in the attic of a Manhattan brownstone, The Price tells the story of the Franz family. Victor Franz (Doug McDade), a policeman that dropped out of college to care for his ruined, invalid father, sacrificing his probable career in science, is preparing to meet with Gregory Solomon, an octogenarian estate assessor (emotionally played by ensemble member Maury Cooper). Victor’s suspicious wife Esther (Linda Reiter) ardently tells her husband that he must be sure to negotiate a good price with the assessor, reminding him that he is too trusting; that he believes everything he sees. Unexpectedly, in the middle of Victor and the assessor negotiating a fair price for the heirlooms crammed in the attic, Victor’s estranged brother Walter (Don Blair), who selfishly abandoned his father and brother to become an eminent New York surgeon, appears to take part in the parsing of their family’s possessions. As the brothers negotiate the sale of their family’s heirlooms, past resentments and unknown truths come boiling to the surface, forcing the brothers to confront and come to grips with these long-smothered memories, realizing that in order to move on with their lives they must each accept the price they’ve both paid for their very different choices.

The production values are top-notch. Set designer Kevin Hagan has meticulously recreated the attic, heavy wooden beams crossing the low-hanging ceiling, a row of windows on stage right, tables and chests full of haunting memories of the past. The lighting designer, Mike Durst, has done an impressive job re-creating the correct hues of the sunlight streaming through the attic windows.

Shattered Globe has successfully communicated all of the dramatic turns of this powerful work through the use of four stellar performers and the artistic vision of director Todd Schmidt. As the play tells us, we all have paid a price, good and bad, for past choices we have made, all through our own looking-glass of what we presume to be true. Shattered Globe’s The Price, thankfully, presents us with a riveting production that is well-worth the price of admission.

Rating: Strongly Recommended (4 stars)

Reviewed by Scotty Zacher

[email protected]



	Sweet Smell of Success *The Price* Shattered Globe Theatre 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. http://www.shatteredglobe.org Playwright Arthur Miller lived a long and interesting life. Dying in 2005, at the ripe age of 89, Miller was an iconic figure in the world of theatre and cinema. Considered one of America’s best playwrights, his 1948 Death of a Salesman is widely acclaimed as the best American play ever written. Along with his 4-year marriage to Marilyn Monroe, Miller also gained notoriety in other ways, particularly for his political leanings. Briefly a member of the Communist Party in the 1930’s, Miller was sentenced in 1952 to a month in prison and $500 fine by the “House Un-American Activities Committee” (of which Richard Nixon was a member), for refusing to reveal names of other “un-American” artists. But worse than the prison sentence and fine, Miller was placed on the committee’s black-list, hurling Miller into an artistic chasm that took him years to dig out of - no producer or writer was willing to collaborate with him for fear of being accused of abetting a Communist, and thus placed on the same black-list themselves. And it is for this that Miller, and the world, paid the biggest price - who knows how many great works were squelched, works that the public was denied, all because politicians deemed that he was not “American” enough. Interestingly, Shattered Globe’s outstanding production of Miller’s 1969 drama, The Price, examines this same type of loss - the price people pay and suffer from decisions and situations occurring in their past, whether or not in their control, and whether or not they’re actually true. Set entirely in the attic of a Manhattan brownstone, The Price tells the story of the Franz family. Victor Franz (Doug McDade), a policeman that dropped out of college to care for his ruined, invalid father, sacrificing his probable career in science, is preparing to meet with Gregory Solomon, an octogenarian estate assessor (emotionally played by ensemble member Maury Cooper). Victor’s suspicious wife Esther (Linda Reiter) ardently tells her husband that he must be sure to negotiate a good price with the assessor, reminding him that he is too trusting; that he believes everything he sees. Unexpectedly, in the middle of Victor and the assessor negotiating a fair price for the heirlooms crammed in the attic, Victor’s estranged brother Walter (Don Blair), who selfishly abandoned his father and brother to become an eminent New York surgeon, appears to take part in the parsing of their family’s possessions. As the brothers negotiate the sale of their family’s heirlooms, past resentments and unknown truths come boiling to the surface, forcing the brothers to confront and come to grips with these long-smothered memories, realizing that in order to move on with their lives they must each accept the price they’ve both paid for their very different choices. The production values are top-notch. Set designer Kevin Hagan has meticulously recreated the attic, heavy wooden beams crossing the low-hanging ceiling, a row of windows on stage right, tables and chests full of haunting memories of the past. The lighting designer, Mike Durst, has done an impressive job re-creating the correct hues of the sunlight streaming through the attic windows. Shattered Globe has successfully communicated all of the dramatic turns of this powerful work through the use of four stellar performers and the artistic vision of director Todd Schmidt. As the play tells us, we all have paid a price, good and bad, for past choices we have made, all through our own looking-glass of what we presume to be true. Shattered Globe’s The Price, thankfully, presents us with a riveting production that is well-worth the price of admission. Rating: Strongly Recommended (4 stars) Reviewed by Scotty Zacher [email protected] Hosted by www.Geocities.ws