David Suchet and Brendan Coyle to reprise their roles in the W/E transfer of The Price
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
FOLLOWING critical and public acclaim at Theatre Royal Bath earlier this year, the 50th anniversary production of Arthur Miller’s riveting drama, The Price, is transferring to the West End – to Wyndham’s Theatre where it will run from February 11 (previews from February 5) to April 27, 2019.
British actor David Suchet and Olivier Award-winner and BAFTA and Emmy nominated Brendan Coyle will reprise their star roles as furniture dealer Gregory Solomon and New York cop Victor Franz respectively, in Jonathan Church’s exemplary revival.
The cast also includes Adrian Lukis, who will return to play Victor’s brother Walter Franz, and Sara Stewart as Esther Franz, Victor’s wife.
Two brothers, Victor and Walter Franz, one a New York cop nearing retirement, the other a successful surgeon, meet for the first time in sixteen years to sell their family furniture stored in the attic of a condemned New York brownstone. Revelation follows stunning revelation as each brother realises the price they have paid for heart breaking decisions made decades earlier.
Overseeing the psychological battlefield is the wily veteran appraiser, Gregory Solomon, who has his own demons to conquer as well as securing the best possible price for the Franz family possessions.
First seen on Broadway in 1968, The Price was nominated for two Tony Awards including Best Play. It was revived in New York in 2017, starring Mark Ruffalo and Danny DeVito. This 50th anniversary production of Arthur Miller’s richly affecting play, like his better known works, mines his preoccupation with the pleasures and perils of the American Dream.
As well as The Price, Arthur Miller’s plays include All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, After the Fall and Finishing the Picture. His other works include Focus, a novel, The Misfits, a screenplay, Timebends, an autobiography and the novella, Homely Girl. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949 for Death of a Salesman.
David Suchet, well known for playing Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie’s Poirot, was most recently seen in the BBC 1 drama Press and on stage in the Pinter at the Pinter season. Theatre highlights include Long Day’s Journey Into Night and All My Sons (Apollo Theatre), The Last Confession (West End, Chichester Festival Theatre) and Amadeus (West End, London and Broadway).
Suchet’s film credits include Effie, The Bank Job, Act of God, Foolproof, The In-Laws, Live From Baghdad, Sabotage, Wing Commander, A Perfect Murder and Sunday. Additional television work includes Great Expectations, Richard II, Hidden, Going Postal, Flood, Henry VIII, Victoria & Albert, RKO281, Seesaw and Solomon.
Brendan Coyle’s extensive television credits include playing John Bates in Downton Abbey, for which he won three SAG Awards for Outstanding Ensemble and received Emmy, BAFTA and IFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Most recently, he starred in the BBC and Netflix series Requiem, and on stage in Conor McPherson’s chilling one-man show St Nicholas for the Donmar Warehouse and Dublin Theatre Festival.
Coyle’s other television credits include Spotless, Starlings and Lark Rise To Candleford. He starred in the original production of The Weir (Royal Court, West End and Broadway), winning both the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor and New York Critics’ Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. He has also appeared in Mojo (Harold Pinter Theatre), The Late Henry Moss (Almeida Theatre) and Buried Child (National Theatre). His film credits include upcoming Working Title epic Mary Queen of Scots and Me Before You.
Adrian Lukis has appeared in several television series, including BBC dramas Collateral, Silk, Silent Witness, Doctors and Spooks. His stage credits include The Seagull (National Theatre), Versailles (Donmar Warehouse), The Taming of the Shrew (Royal Shakespeare Company), Pygmalion (Theatre Royal Bath) and Arthur and George and The Winslow Boy (Birmingham Repertory).
Sara Stewart has appeared on screen in Channel 4’s Fresh Meat, the Emmy Award-winning series Sugar Rush, and most recently in BBC dramas Doctor Foster and The Night Manager. Her film credits include Face of an Angel, Philomena, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Sightseers and the latest Transformers film. Her most recent theatre credits include The Cherry Orchard (Nottingham Playhouse) and Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties (Southwark Playhouse).
Jonathan Church is Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Bath Summer Season where his directing credits include the upcoming In Praise of Love and, recently, The Price, An Ideal Husband as seen in the West End, Racing Demon and The Lady in the Van. He was previously Artistic Director for the Salisbury Playhouse (1995-99), Birmingham Rep (2001-05) and Chichester Festival Theatre (2006-16). His directing credits include acclaimed productions such as Singin’ in the Rain, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Taken at Midnight (all at Chichester Festival Theatre and in the West End). He received a CBE for Services to Theatre in 2015.
Presented by Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Jonathan Church Productions, The Price is directed by Jonathan Church, with design by Simon Higlett, lighting design by Paul Pyant, sound design by Mike Walker, composition by Matthew Scott, associate direction by Emma Butler and casting by Gabrielle Dawes CDG.
Image: Adrian Lukis, David Suchet and Brendan Coyle in The Price. Photo credit: Nobby Clark.
Tickets: from £20 – to book, call the box office on 0844 482 5151 or visit www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/theatres/wyndhams-theatre/.
Times: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm; Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm.
Florian Zeller’s new play, The Height of the Storm, starring Jonathan Pryce and Dame Eileen Atkins, continues at Wyndham’s Theatre until December 1, 2018.