Review: Arthur Miller’s quiet classic “The Price” is brought to life by Charles Siebert, at Cinnabar Theatre through April 7, 2013
Charles Siebert (front left), Samson Hood (rear) and John Shillington (right) in Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” at Cinnabar Theatre through April 7, 2013. Siebert shines as a perceptive 90-year-old Central European-Jewish antique dealer, who ends up brokering a lot more than the relics in the family attic. Photo: Eric Chazankin
Cinnabar Theatre has another winner in its 40th anniversary season line-up—Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” from 1968, a haunting story of two long-estranged brothers who meet to divide up their dead father’s estate and come to terms with hard choices they made as young adults that defined the separate courses of their lives. Miller, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for his “Death of a Salesman,” crafted another remarkable drama in the lesser known “The Price,” which director Sheri Lee Miller brings to life on Cinnabar’s intimate stage. Renowned actor, Charles Siebert, who now resides in Healdsburg, literally steals the show—he shines as an old, sentimental and very wise antiques dealer, Gregory Solomon, who has been called upon to make an offer on the lot of furniture in an old attic. The story is about a struggle all of us face—how to thrive as healthy individuals and follow our dreams as we negotiate family relationships and obligations. Central to this drama are two brothers, Viktor and Walter Franz, who are joined by antique dealer Gregory Salomon and Victor’s wife Esther. Viktor is a hardworking cop, barely scraping by financially, while Walter became a successful and highly-respected doctor. Everyone is looking back and asking “How did I get to where I am right now? In the course of an evening, perceptions are shifted dramatically as facts are revealed about the choices the brothers made long ago. “The Price” perceptively probes the intangibles of family relations, asking what, ultimately, do we owe each other and ourselves.
Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” at Cinnabar Theatre, is the story of estranged Franz brothers and an attic that has to be cleared. The drama centers on irreconcilable attitudes about the value of self-sacrifice in a society which pits every person for himself. Here, Walter (John Shillington) (Left) explains to Viktor (Samson Hood) and his wife, Esther (Madeleine Ashe), that he grabbed an opportunity and made the most of it while Walter’s self-sacrifice was for nothing. Photo: Eric Chazankin
Cast:
Madeleine Ashe………….Esther Franz
Samson Hood……………..Victor Franz
John Shillington………….Walter Franz
*Charles Siebert….Gregory Solomon *Member Actors Equity Association
Production Team:
Directed by Sheri Lee Miller
Details: Cinnabar Theatre is located at 3333 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, CA. Remaining performances of “The Price”: Friday, March 29 at 8 p.m.; Saturday March 20 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 31 at 2 p.m.; Friday, April 5 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 6 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $15-$25 with discounts for Seniors 65 and over and Youth 22 and under. Tickets and information: www.cinnabartheatreorg or 707.763.8920
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