When the Great Depression cost his family their fortune, Victor Franz gave up his dream of an education to support his father. Three decades later, Victor has returned to his childhood home to sell the remainder of his parents' estate. His wife, his estranged brother, and the wily furniture dealer hired to appraise their possessions all arrive with their own agendas, forcing Victor to confront a question, long-stifled, about the value of his sacrifice.
One of the most personal plays by the consummate voice of the American everyman, Arthur Miller's The Price is a riveting story about the struggle to make peace with the past and create hope for the future. Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney (reasons to be pretty) directs.
DeVito, playing the kind of irreverent, hilarious, irritation-generating dynamo that he also does so brilliantly on film-steals the audience's attention, especially when it comes to consuming an egg, the shell of which he cracks with his cane. He then eats it with the gusto that Cookie Monster attacks his cookies. His character is 89, and in a long, colorful life has been three times married and somehow acquired a discharge from the British Navy. But he, too, is hiding a family tragedy, and DeVito's emotional register shifts perfectly at the moment of its revelation. Hecht skillfully does as much as she can do with very little, Miller's vision of her seems beached between acquisitive shrew and frustrated peacemaker, with little shading in between-it is Hecht's subtle coquettishness that adds an edge to her interactions with Walter. Shalhoub is also unexpected: he looks as smooth as any stage villain should yet his desire for money isn't simple greed, and he doesn't patronize his brother, despite having materially achieved so much more. He puts the price of his beautiful coat at 'two gallstones'-operated on 'a big textile guy' who keeps sending him things.
I can see why 'The Price' isn't staged as frequently as the Miller classics. The second act spins into an exhausting cyclone of old slights and misunderstandings to justify the silences between siblings. Director Terry Kinney does his best to keep things reeled in, but some of the interaction between the brothers borders on tedious. 'The Price' is best described as dyspeptic. If you're looking for a hero or a villain, it's an irresolvable conundrum-you can find evidence that it's any of the four. That said, in the hands of a quartet as skilled as this, what we're left remembering finally is not Miller's art, but something of a master class in great performing.
1979 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2017 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival Broadway |
2019 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Play | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | The Price |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | The Price |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Danny DeVito |
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