Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Garry Hynes' production, which opened Saturday at the Mark Taper Forum, is a shade too respectful. The Tony-winning Irish director treats the text as though it were a castle of poetry when it is a foursquare house made of prose. Exposition could have been judiciously cut, repetitions eliminated and some delaying tactics sped up. (There's a sleek 90-minute drama trapped inside this corpulent 2 1/2-hour domestic opera.) But Hynes' cast is first-rate. And when the characters are in pitched battle with one another, at last confronting their confounding and long-buried past, the production stops marking time and bursts into anguished meaning."
LA Weekly - Recommended
"...Lloyd balances the easy air of wealth with an honest desire to mend fences, while Robards carries the pride and stress of an elevated mind trapped in a working class body. Burton feistily insinuates herself as pragmatist and peacemaker, while Mandell's quiet humor and wisdom hint at the former patriarch, whose presence, courtesy of Hynes' cleverly-placed empty armchair, remains center stage throughout."
The Hollywood Reporter - Recommended
"...Emotionally and intellectually compelling at its core, The Price offers the power of Miller's ideas confined by the limitations of his material. Robards carries the night as the heart of the play, but gets a strong assist from Mandell who provides desperately needed comic relief. With themes of social sacrifice and income inequality as relevant today as the day it was written, The Price represents a chance to see a high-caliber production of a rarely performed work by an American master."
LA Splash - Recommended
"...The comedic first act, wonderfully enhanced by Alan Mandell's authentic performance, is quickly followed in this dramady by serious issues of anger, resentment and perceptions as the truth – or what each character believes to be the truth – tumbles out."
StageHappenings.com - Somewhat Recommended
"...Michael Ritchie has assembled quite a group, from the famous children Kate Burton (as Esther) and Robards to John Bedford Lloyd (Walter) and of course, the favorite Alan Mandell. They are directed by Garry Hynes, whose long list of kudos reveals a long list of international productions. While the complexity of Miller's characters comes through, with the exception of Mandell's performance, these fine actors have yet to hit their stride in their respective parts."
ArtsInLA - Recommended
"...Miller's 1968 drama had a decent, even Tony-nominated beginning. But today, under the sweeping yet austere directorial eye of Garry Hynes, his sharply personal play has finally come into its own as a true American classic. The painful backstory behind the decades-long estrangement between Victor and his highly successful doctor brother Walter (John Bedford Lloyd) unfolds and smoothes out like the wrinkles in a sheet in the play's sometimes longwinded second act."
Neon Tommy - Recommended
"...All in all, The Center Theatre Group's production of "The Price" is a must-see. The cast and crew have done Arthur Miller proud, going against the grain and beautifully producing one of his lesser-known works. "The Price" leaves audiences considering the price paid for their own lives, their decisions, and their relationships, filling them with the drive to start fresh and begin again, no matter the cost."
TheatreMania - Recommended
"...With The Price, audiences witness a therapy session. But the combination of Miller's writing and Hynes' direction never lets the subject matter seem banal, reminding us that even the most common arguments are compelling enough to take center stage."
Culture Vulture - Recommended
"...89-year-old Alan Mandell is reason enough to buy a ticket. Were this Japan we would label him a national treasure. But there is more. Miller has perfect pitch for the conflicts that tear apart relationships. Yes, Act I drags and is not helped by Hynes' direction, but let loose in Act II, Robards and Burton come to life, Mandell is clear as a bell and "The Price" at the Taper is definitely worth the price of admission."
Total Theater - Recommended
"...The Price's universal themes are family and money. Miller, as always, dramatizes those themes powerfully, though it isn't until Act Two that his play becomes truly alive and compelling–act one being little more than an opportunity for Gregory Solomon to entertain us with his borscht belt-like routines. Mandell does this superbly, and his fellow actors feed off his dominating performance and manage to hold you in their spell from start to finish."
Cultural Weekly - Recommended
"...Miller wrote this one in 1968 and what stands out in this powerful revival almost five decades later is the timelessness and durability of the writing. To say that The Price is about two brothers' attempt to sell off their deceased parents' houseful of furniture is to speak half the truth. The Price is not so much about the price of used furniture as it is about the cost of broken family ties. And in this production we have a sharply written Jewish piece staged by a strong Irish director, Garry Hynes, the woman who introduced this country to the darkly humorous works of Martin McDonagh. It seems that the Jews and the Irish share at least one thing: a funny, clever, cutting and pernicious way with words."
Showmag - Recommended
"...Now So Cal theatergoers have the opportunity to see these proceedings played out by a consummate cast that includes masterful performances by multigenerational actors – Kate Burton (daughter of Richard) and Sam Robards (son of Jason) – at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum, through March 22."
