Theater Review—

Vintage Miller, ‘The Price’ Continued Strong Debut Season For Stray Kats

By Julie Stern

Now that we have a spanking new town hall on the grounds of Fairfield Hills, the space and resources of the old Edmond Town Hall are an opportunity waiting to happen. All sorts of things are going on in those musty (or not so musty) old rooms, in fact, from classes for home schooled kids and office space for The Parent Connection to Flagpole Radio Café and assorted fundraisers and recitals.

Kate Katcher is taking a chance on a long time dream of starting a non-profit professional repertory company here in Newtown. Recognizing the need to begin a journey with a single step, her company — Stray Kats Theatre Company — is offering single performances of staged readings, in The Alexandria Room of the former town hall at 45 Main Street. Her hope is that by getting local attention and building a following, her company (of which she is serving as Artistic Director) will eventually be in a position to mount full fledged productions.

Based on the February 11 presentation of Arthur Miller’s 1968 drama The Price, Katcher and her Stray Kats Theatre Company know what they are doing. It was billed as a “dramatic reading,” and it is true that the actors held copies of the script in their hands, but they were in costume, and the set, while minimal, contained enough properties to convey a clear sense of place.  More importantly, it was clear that these were experienced Equity professionals who held the audience’s attention throughout.

The Price is vintage Miller, probing the tangle of buried memories and resentments that lie at the heart of a long family estrangement. Set in the attic of an about-to-be-razed townhouse, the title ostensibly refers to the bid a used furniture dealer will make on a jumble of possessions that belonged to a wealthy man who lost his money, his home, his confidence, and his sense of self when the stock market crashed in 1929.

But the title refers to more than the price of dining tables and chiffoniers. It is actually about the price of the choices we make in life. For Walter, the son who became a surgeon, the choice to pursue money and success at the expense of personal relationships has left him divorced from his wife, estranged from his children, and without any real friends. For Victor, the second son and a policeman, the choice to stick with his father robbed him of the chance for meaningful work, and doomed him to a life, not of poverty exactly, but of penny pinching and limited possibilities.

Esther, Victor’s wife, urges him to haggle with the dealer, to not simply accept his first offer. The real haggling, though, takes place between the brothers. Years ago, Walter could have lent his brother the money to finish college and achieve his own dream, but he didn’t, even though he was already established, with a big house and medical practice.

What price will it take for Victor to absolve him now of guilt?  And for Victor, what price did he have to pay for taking what he considered the moral high ground? As the play proceeds, new truths are revealed that cast a different light on the behavior of father and sons.

Meanwhile, the play is held together by the comic figure of Solomon, the crafty, perceptive furniture dealer who prods both men into examining their past, even as he wanders about the stage, fingering the goods.  A 90-year-old Lithuanian Jew,  Solomon has lived a fuller life than either of the brothers. 

Under the guidance of director Bob Adrian, the cast of David Rogers (as Solomon), William Jess Russell (Walter), Don Striano (Victor) and Kate Katcher (Esther) were truly professional, and the audience clearly appreciated the chance to see them, right here in the center of town.

If this is an example of what Stray Kats has in mind,  it is well worth supporting, and breathes new life into the building that Mary Hawley gave us eighty years ago, for just such enrichment of the hearts and minds of her town.