Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Arthur Miller may have been a genius, but he clearly didn’t intend for his work to cheer anyone up.
Miller’s “The Price,” currently being performed at Lakeside Little Theatre, is a tense family drama replete with resentment, regret and deep truths. The play debuted in 1968 and features two middle-aged brothers who come together to dispose of their father’s belongings. LLT’s production is directed by Monnie King and Peter King.
We first meet police officer Victor Franz (Brian Fuqua) as he wanders through an attic in a soon-to-be-demolished building, removing sheets from a jumble of furniture and mementos. Set Designer Joy Swetnam has outdone herself with the set—from the angled attic windows to the faux hardwood flooring to the quirky, fascinating selection of unused household goods. The lighting effects as Victor turns on the various stored lamps are lovely.
Victor is soon joined in the attic by his wife, Esther (Tammy Shanley) and we learn they are awaiting an appraiser to give them a bid to buy Victor’s father’s furniture. Victor is nearing age fifty and is poised to retire from the police department and we see the cracks in the couple’s marriage as they face this transition. The emotional arguments between the two are convincing but perhaps don’t seem to escalate sufficiently.
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