Review Roundup: Arthur Miller's THE PRICE at Arena Stage

Arthur Miller's THE PRICE runs at Arena Stage through November 12. Everything has a price - even our dreams. Victor Franz has returned home to settle his late father's estate. In an attic overflowing with memories and furniture he meets the enigmatic Gregory Solomon, a professional appraiser committed to turning a profit off Victor's past. But before a bargain can be struck, an estranged brother enters the scene to reframe Victor's memories and force them both to reconsider the true cost of personal sacrifices.

The cast stars Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Victor Franz, Hal Linden as Gregory Solomon, Pearl Sun as Esther Franz, and Rafael Untalan as Walter Franz. Ricardo Frederick Evans will take over as Victor Franz November 7-12.

THE PRICE is directed by Seema Sueko, with set design by Wilson Chin, costume design by Ivania Stack, lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes, and sound design by Roc Lee.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Robert Michael Oliver, DC Metro Theatre Arts: Starring Hal Linden as the near-nonagenarian furniture appraiser Gregory Solomon, Arena's production of The Price is built for 2017. Director Seema Sueko, Arena's deputy artistic director, has pulled together a multiethnic supporting cast that includes local actors Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Victor Franz and Rafael Untalan as his brother Walter. Pearl Sun plays Victor's wife Esther. This family couldn't look more American; it also couldn't look more New York. This family, with the always-feisty Solomon never missing an opportunity to finalize a deal, gives this The Price its dynamism.

Jennifer Perry, BroadwayWorld: Broadway and television's award-winning actor Hal Linden, as the elderly furniture appraiser/dealer Gregory Solomon, may be the star name in the production, but the entire cast that Director Seema Sueko has assembled is certainly his equal... While The Price has a bit of a slow start (no fault of the actors or the direction - it's Miller's script), it's worth the slog through the first twenty minutes to get to the meat of the play. Linden's comedic zingers, from the outset, add some spice to the proceedings, and he has great chemistry with Ebrahimzadeh, which makes the buyer/seller scenes great fun. Believable dramatic performances by Ebrahimzadeh, Untalan, and Sun draw us into their tangled pasts later on in the play.

Mary Ann Johnson, MD Theatre Review: Maboud Ebrahimzadeh portrayal of Victor is heartbreaking in his reactions to the family treachery he learns about. It is a pitch-perfect depiction of a good man coming to terms with decisions (a word used very often by his brother) that he had known nothing of, and yet which impacted his life so deeply. Pearl Sun as Esther is a woman who longs for more and is torn between a feeling of shame at her husband's job and envy at the brother's seemingly never-ending upward trajectory.

Photo: Colin Hovde

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