THE PRICE

Jonathan Munby’s revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price at the Marylebone Theatre is a thoughtful, carefully crafted production that finds both emotional weight and contemporary relevance in one of Miller’s more overlooked plays. It succeeds in drawing out the human ache at its centre: the long aftermath of choices made, and the cost of what we keep—or refuse to let go.

The production’s greatest strength lies in its clarity of storytelling and atmosphere. The set design is striking: a cramped, cluttered attic piled with the remnants of a lifetime, which immediately establishes the play’s central idea that the past is not gone but stored, waiting, and expensive to revisit. Munby uses this space intelligently, allowing the physical environment to echo the emotional entrapment of the Franz family. It feels less like a location and more like a pressure chamber.

Henry Goodman’s Gregory Solomon is magnetic—wry, unpredictable, and quietly profound. He brings humour without undercutting the character’s underlying moral slipperiness, and his presence enlivens every scene he enters. Elliot Cowan gives a restrained, deeply controlled performance as Victor Franz, a man weighed down by years of deferred resentment and obligation. His emotional repression is carefully calibrated, so that when cracks appear, they feel earned rather than forced. John Hopkins provides a cool, almost rigid counterpoint as Walter, embodying success without warmth, while Faye Castelow lends a grounded, quietly pained energy as Esther, holding the domestic tension together.

Munby’s direction is most effective in the second half, where the long-simmering conflicts finally erupt into confrontation. These scenes have real dramatic force and clarity, exposing the emotional logic beneath Miller’s sometimes heavy dialogue. However, the first act does feel slower and more static than necessary, with exposition occasionally weighing down momentum. The pacing improves as the play progresses, but the imbalance is noticeable.

What ultimately holds the production together is its emotional sincerity. Even when the structure feels dated or overextended, the central questions remain compelling: what do we owe to family, what do we owe to ourselves, and what is the real price of regret? Munby doesn’t radically reinterpret Miller, but he doesn’t need to—the production trusts the material enough to let it speak.

In the end, The Price emerges here as a solid, actor-led revival: intelligent, deeply moving, and resonant. It lingers more in reflection than in theatrical fireworks, which feels appropriate for a play so concerned with the cost of looking back.

★★★★★ “Theatrical gold… Henry Goodman is a phenomenon in this Arthur Miller masterpiece” The Daily Telegraph

💛 Date: 21st April – Saturday 10th May 2026

💛 Location: Marylebone Theatre, 35 Park Rd, London NW1 6XT

💛 Time: 7:30 pm

💛 Tickets: https://marylebonetheatre.com/