THE PRICE

Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“as a theatrical performance, it is priceless”

‘The price we have to pay’ is an often-used aphorism, not just in literary form, but in everyday conversation. Arthur Miller shortened it to just “The Price” for his 1967 two-act play. He could have maybe done with shortening the text a little as well, but this searing family drama is so packed full of themes, tensions, memories, grudges and secrets that the dialogue resembles the ramshackle, claustrophobic and cluttered attic in which the action is set. An attic filled with heirlooms and keepsakes; each with its own significance.

The mind of a man is “like a bric-a-brac shop”, Oscar Wilde once quoted, “all monsters and dust”. The first thing we see as we enter the auditorium is Jon Bausor’s astonishingly well-crafted set, which is at once a literal New York brownstone attic, and a metaphor. As the dust sheets are peeled away, the monsters appear. They haunt their protagonists over the next two and a half hours of real-time action that paints a very vivid picture of four disparate and desperate characters.

New York cop Victor Franz (Elliot Cowan) turns up at his late parents’ house where all the possessions are cramped into the attic that his father retreated to after the tragic death of his mother. He has a date with nonagenarian antique dealer Solomon (Henry Goodman) who has come to cast his Machiavellian eye over the goods with a view to slapping a price on the job lot. The first act focuses on the wrangling and haggling – not just between Victor and Solomon, but also with Victor’s wife Esther (Faye Castelow) who has her fair share of input and opinion. In act two, Solomon spends much of the time out of sight (but not out of mind) while the arrival of Victor’s estranged brother Walter (John Hopkins) really gets those dust motes flying through the air. More like a ricochet of bullets as family secrets are fired at each other. The characters actions and reactions shift like an accordion’s bellows, and we wonder at times how the whole concertina doesn’t get ripped apart completely.

Cowan’s Victor is a finely portrayed figure of lapsed principles, swamped by his own sense of mediocrity. Having dropped out of university to care for his father, his own disappointment is surpassed only by his wife’s. Esther is probably the least sympathetic character, but Castelow gives her exasperation justification that we ultimately warm to. Meanwhile, sleek and successful Walter returns after sixteen years. The concertina effect once again comes into full force as the brothers repeatedly move towards reconciliation, but in a short cruel and discordant breath they are then pulled apart once more.

The performances are spot on, each cast member skilfully grappling with Miller’s dialogue. The star turn is Goodman, who plays his part with relish. Bordering on caricature, there is something almost Biblical about the character that gives his name extra significance. Loaded with tenuous wisdom and comic relief, he is part arbitrator and agitator; untrusting and equally sly. There is a distinctive lack of resolution to the play, perhaps because there are too many reveals along the way. The brothers end up pretty much where they started but with more hindsight and insight. They have revealed long hidden truths about each other and their late parents and now know the price they have paid for their past sacrifices. Whether they can afford it is the one thing that still rents them apart.

Director Jonathan Munby’s staging complements the script, allowing the light and the shade to vacillate in time to Anna Watson’s subdued and atmospheric lighting. Max Pappenheim’s filmic score pulls tension back and forth like a dangerous undertow. Ultimately, all the bric-a-brac in the attic is sold, but the true, emotional legacy can never be shaken off, whatever the price. We have sat through a long evening and taken on a lot of emotional baggage. But as a theatrical performance, it is priceless.

THE PRICE

Marylebone Theatre

Reviewed on 23rd April 2026

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

THE PRICE

★★★★

“Each bump, jump, scare and shock comes as a surprise in a perfectly paced and executed telling of the tale”

“As you enter, hold your nerve. As you exit, hold your tongue. Keep our secrets.”

The fact that we are handed a note containing a personal appeal from the writer to ‘keep spoiler secrets’ leaves me wondering what I can actually write about. Levi Holloway’s stage adaptation of the “Paranormal Activity” film (and its many offshoots and sequels) has enough white-knuckle twists and spine-tingling moments that, when taken away, leave just the bare bones of a chilling narrative scattered on the floor. It kind of makes my job easier in a way. The impact of this show relies on emotions rather than words and director Felix Barrett, along with illusionist Chris Fisher, tap into them like a sadistic surgeon’s catheter. There is the initial shock, followed by a tenuous sense of relief from knowing that we are, in fact, in a safe environment; surrounded by like-minded members of the audience. Often the gasps morph into nervous laughter.

I never saw any of the original film franchise, that featured the ‘found footage’ technique, whereby the characters are filming the story for themselves as they go along. This has been dispensed with for the live version (I think I’m allowed that spoiler?). Instead, the focus is on a normal couple. Two people in a two-storey house (Fly Davis’ set is a chillingly authentic reproduction of cosy suburbia, but with some dark corners where the shadows start playing tricks on our imagination). James (Patrick Heusinger) and Lou (Melissa James) have moved from Chicago to London, ostensibly to escape the evil presence that has been possessing Lou since childhood. They quickly discover, however, that places aren’t haunted, but people are (I am definitely allowed that one – it’s one of the shows taglines). Heusinger and James portray the couple with a naturalness and an almost humdrum domesticity. Until they are wrenched from everyday life into sleepless nights.

There has to be a reason for the supernatural goings-on. So, James brings in charlatan exorcist Etheline (Jackie Morrison). On this note – Holloway successfully slips in whisps of humour that, not just distracts from, but also manages to heighten the sense of impending fear. A sense intensified by Gareth Fry’s sound design and then taken to impossible heights by Anna Watson’s lighting, which are integral to the narrative. Watson paws at our senses, caressing the corners of our eye before plunging us into darkness or else revealing what may or may not be lurking in the corners of the house.

We are sometimes taken out of the moment by the trickery, and consequently wondering how they did it, but that is all part of the enjoyment of the journey. The story itself doesn’t require that much effort, until the final twists take our breath away. Teasers are continually provided by James’ mother, Carolanne (Pippa Winslow), who spends a lot of time at the other end of a video-call to James. When she eventually appears in the flesh, our own flesh is left tingling somewhat.

The four performances are quite outstanding, and give the impression that they are as fresh to the story as we are. Each bump, jump, scare and shock comes as a surprise in a perfectly paced and executed telling of the tale. I wish I could tell you more, but I’m minded of Holloway’s instructions in the press pack to ‘keep our secret’. So, it’s up to you. There’s only one way to find out. I’d urge you to… if you dare.

Tag Archives: Anna Watson

THE PRICE

★★★★

Marylebone Theatre

THE PRICE

Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“as a theatrical performance, it is priceless”