★★★★

“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.

TWO HALVES OF GUINNESS

Park Theatre

★★★★

“a fascinating memoir”

The late Sir Alec Guinness once said of himself that “essentially, I’m a small-part actor who’s been lucky enough to play leading roles for most of my life”. This modest observation is typical of his unostentatious approach to his career and to his personality. In Mark Burgess’ one-man show, “Two Halves of Guinness”, Zeb Soanes impeccably reflects the essence of Alec Guinness in a role that sees him as the lead man, while undertaking a huge variety of small roles (over thirty, in fact) in the space of two hours.

Soanes doesn’t attempt any physical resemblance, but he manages to cut through the surface while capturing the tone and quality of the voice. Little else is needed. A few simple props maybe, such as when a tan leather brogue becomes a telephone handset, and a fair bit of inventive mime; and a battered travelling trunk. By curtain call, that trunk has been well used, having accompanied Soanes on the cradle to grave story – a journey that highlights not just the landmarks of a career with subtle self-deprecating humour, but pivotal personal moments that poignantly attempt to show what forces shaped his life. On the note of ‘forces’ – Soanes delivers a wonderful scenario in which Guinness corrects a ‘Star Wars’ fan (Obi-Wan Kenobi never said, ‘may the force be with you’ but ‘the force will be with you, always’. Apparently.)

It is a common side effect of the profession – that of being remembered chiefly for one particular iconic role that eclipses a varied career that precedes it. It was a chip on Guiness’ shoulder that he carried light-heartedly, but at one point Soanes asks the audience if they can mention other roles that he could be remembered for. There are no shortage of answers from the floor – an episode that highlights, perhaps, that the play isn’t revealing anything particularly new. But although we are whisked through the headlines, we are slowed down when the writing starts delving between the lines. We all know about the Ealing Comedies, ‘Great Expectations’, ‘The Ladykillers’, ‘Doctor Zhivago’, ‘Star Wars’… but did we know that Guiness based his unsteady walk in ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ on his eleven-year-old son who was suffering from polio at the time? Or how David lean, sometimes cruelly, brought out the best performances from his cast? We also catch behind the scenes moments that tease out hidden sides to other major players in Guinness’ life, such as John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Omar Sharif, Peter O’Toole (Soanes is also a great mimic).

Guinness was always seeking his own voice. Whether it was a direct consequence, Burgess makes much of the fact that Guinness never discovered the identity of his father, constantly seeking approval from a man he never knew. It is an engaging leitmotif throughout the show, but more resonant are the quiet moments when he recollects the time that his alcoholic mother abandoned him while going off on her many drinking sprees. Guinness was a complex and private soul, and together Burgess and Soanes bring out this side to his character with respect, pathos and, when needed, a little laughter. Director Selina Cadell casts a gentle hand over the narrative allowing the words to do the story telling. Burgess has clearly done his research, although those of us less familiar with Guinness’ life and works will reap more reward from the play – Burgess digs deep but doesn’t discover anything particularly new to the aficionados.

“Two Halves of Guinness” is a fascinating memoir, revealing layers of doubt beneath the assured persona. There is no doubting, however, Soanes’ assured and richly voiced portrayal of the double-Oscar-winning star of over seventy films. After a distinguished career as one of Britain’s greatest actors, Guinness feared that he would only be remembered as a Jedi knight. This play will go a long way to redressing the balance. You could argue that it doesn’t need to, but it is a truly entertaining way of finding out.

Tag Archives: Jonathan Evans

THE PRICE

★★★★

Marylebone Theatre

THE PRICE

Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“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

THE PRICE

THE PRICE

TWO HALVES OF GUINNESS

★★★★

Park Theatre

TWO HALVES OF GUINNESS

Park Theatre

★★★★

“a fascinating memoir”