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The Price is wrong >> Saidye company intimidated by Miller play by AMY BARRATT
Miller's The Price, currently being presented at the Saidye Bronfman Centre, has the advantage of being studied and produced far less often than Salesman. Audiences are more likely to come to it fresh. Still, with a literary giant like Miller, actors and directors can fall victim to their reverence for the work and end up with something that never quite makes it off the page. That, unfortunately, seems to be the case with The Price, directed for the Saidye by the National Arts Centre's Marti Maraden. The script itself (first produced in 1968) has aged very well. The two middle-aged brothers, estranged for 16 years, who come together to dispose of their late father's belongings, end up airing "issues" that would be right at home (though not so eloquently expressed) on the Oprah show. And although this play is set nearly forty years ago and deals with the fallout from the 1929 stock market crash, the process of settling a parent's estate continues to be a source of conflict for siblings and fodder for playwrights (see Ann Lambert's Very Heaven, opening this week at Centaur). On opening night of The Price, the pacing was slow and the performances--with the notable exception of Aron Tager as the furniture dealer--seemed timid. At least part of the blame can be placed on a too-short rehearsal period. The Price is a play full of speeches, many of which the actors in this production deliver as if it's all they can do to remember the lines... they can't be expected to act, too. There's no denying that Solomon, the decrepit furniture dealer, is the plum role here, blessed with all of the funny lines. Still, native New Yorker Tager deserves credit for making the most of them and single-handedly saving this otherwise drab production. Paul Rainville as Victor, the brother who sacrificed his own dreams to take care of his broken father, gives a sincere but ultimately whiny performance that doesn't give the audience a chance to root for him. Jeannie Walker, as Vic's wife Esther, seems to have put most of her energy into a New York accent. Joel Miller, as Walter, looks fantastic, but delivers the lines as if he still had the book in his hand. His final exit is simply awful. Like so much that gets produced at the Saidye, this show has an amateurish feel. On so many levels, it lacks imagination. The set, by Victoria Wallace (assisted by David Vivian), is nice to look at--I'd like to have some of that furniture--but is so earnestly realistic that it's boring. Lesley Wilkinson's lighting is merely serviceable. As a professional theatre production, this The Price is a very fine script.
The Price, to May 2 at the Saidye. Mon-Thurs, 8pm; Sat 8:30pm. No shows on Fridays. Tickets $27-35; same-day rush tickets for students: 50% off. 739-7944
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With the revival of Death of a Salesman currently running on Broadway and its French equivalent playing closer to home at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe, Arthur Miller seems to be enjoying renewed popularity. Not that he ever went away, but here in Montreal at least, the trend in the '90s has been away from language-heavy theatre towards spectacle. With Miller, however, it's really all about the words.