The Price arthur miller artist note: Years ago in Edmonton, at the first intermission of a very good production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, I remarked aloud, to myself, “Say, this guy just built an entire act of a single scene… Impressive!” In The Price he goes at least one better: the entire play is arguably one continuous scene. And the action is in real time – all that happens does so in the time it takes for us to watch it. You gotta have your stuff together to do that. In real estate the cry is Location! Location! Location! The same can apply to drama: in 1968, a floor in a New York brownstone, crammed with furniture duster-cloaked, waiting. Ghosts dwell here. I admire Miller’s economy, his attention to structure, the taut weave of character with idea, the startling uniqueness in dialogue and action; he is a writer who is a warehouse of the world he studies. And I am fascinated by his stage directions, parenthetical tips to actors on what motivates particular choices by the characters. Often they are complex, contradictory, inviting philosophical consideration –“(the new interruption seems odd – observing more than speaking)”, “(he breaks off as though fearful of saying something)”, “(Fighting a treason to himself, thus taking on a strained, humorous air)”, “(His reserve has possibilities of accusation)”, “(She exits with her life)”. I kind of like Miller looking over my shoulder, caring how the play will land. Finally what impresses me is the fact of family as a measure of society. Recently there was a gathering at my sister’s rented cottage on Lake Erie. Our parents had long since died, and my sons could not be at the party – but all were with us anyway. Every time I see my brother or sister, our children are there as are our parents. We carry the whole package with us wherever we go! And when my (older) brother appreciated the colourful back roads he and his wife drove to get there, I said, “You’ve lived around here this long and only now you’re seeing the back roads?” And he remarked on my snippiness, and I have no idea where it came from, except perhaps from a time 50-odd years ago when he was being scouted by the Hamilton Ti-Cats, while I had to repeat much of my Grade 13.
David Fox, Gregory Solomon in The Price