By Jody Tuso-Key : Managing Editor

Photo Credit: Casey G Ford

They say no one can hurt you like family. They also say you are the author of your life—and the choices you make are yours to live with. That tension sits at the heart of THE PRICE by the prolific American playwright Arthur Miller. It’s not often we get a chance to see his work, which makes Theatrical Outfit’s production feel like a rare treat, running through May 3rd.

Miller’s plays aren’t fast food—those glitzy jukebox musicals wrapped in flashy packaging (they’re definitely fun, so no disrespect). In comparison, THE PRICE is a gourmet meal: layered, complex, and sometimes uncomfortable. It’s sweet and sentimental at moments, tart in others, and ultimately carries a bitterness that lingers. This production serves it up beautifully, holding a dusty mirror to the audience as we reflect on our own imperfections—and the generational baggage we inherit.

The Price is a quiet knockout: essentially a family therapy session in a soon-to-be-demolished New York attic, disguised as a yard sale where the emotional baggage is worth far more than the furniture. Two estranged brothers—Walter Franz (Andrew Benator) and Victor Franz (Eric Mendenhall)—circle each other like contestants on a tense game show called Who Suffered More? (Spoiler: both are convinced they’ve already won.) Miller lets the tension simmer until every polite exchange inevitably boils over into something resembling a heated holiday dinner.

Adding fuel to the fire is Victor’s wife, Esther (Cara Mantella), who—with a hint of booze on her breath and zero hesitation—offers sharp commentary on everyone’s life choices. 

Then there’s Gregory Solomon (Brian Kurlander), the furniture dealer/appraiser who is equal parts philosopher and opportunist. He prices chairs while casually dismantling the family’s emotional scaffolding. He’s funny, a bit absurd, and somehow the most well-adjusted person in the room—which is saying something.

What makes The Price land is its unflinching honesty wrapped in dry wit. No one escapes unscathed, yet you’ll laugh more than expected—often at the most uncomfortable moments. By the end, you realize the real “price” isn’t what they get for the furniture, but the decades of resentment they’ve been carrying for free.

Bleak? A little. Funny? Surprisingly. Cathartic? Absolutely.

The set, designed by Isabel & Moriah Curley-Clay, is a glorious hodgepodge of relics. It feels as though properties designer Dave Smith raided every thrift shop and antique store in Atlanta—and it works. The attic rises in a pyramid of chaotic layers: chandeliers hang from above, while chairs, trunks, lamps, bureaus, and forgotten treasures stack below in both neat and precarious towers. It evokes everything from Les Misérables barricades to the Hogwarts Room of Requirement. At stage right sits a harp—a poignant relic of the Franz family’s lost prosperity after the Great Depression. Amid the clutter, one small corner—a chair, a phonograph, a few records—feels almost livable, as if it’s the only place where someone could still exist among the ruins. The set becomes a character in itself, embodying unfinished dreams and fractured legacies. At times, actors gesture beyond the stage, suggesting the attic extends into the audience, surrounding us with the debris of memory.

Lighting by designer Racheal N Blackwell captures the warm, dusty glow of sunlight filtering into an attic, grounding the production in realism. The preshow jazz sets a mellow tone, while sound designer Rashaad Pierre underscores the rising tension with precision. Costumes by April Andrew Carswell, developed in collaboration with dramaturgist Addae Moon, authentically reflect 1968 without feeling overly stylized.

During a talkback at the end of Saturday evening’s show, the four performers said they enjoy director Matt Torney’s style, and feel it’s a collaborative effort. If you enjoyed THE LEHMAN TRILOGY, you’ll love THE PRICE for the mere reason Andrew Benator, Brian Kurlander, and Eric Mendenhall – the three musketeers of Theatrical Outfit – are coming fresh off their Alabama run of LEHMAN TRILOGY to join  seasoned Atlanta actor, Cara Mantella.

Andrew Benator’s Walter is a dutiful son who gave up his aspirations in science to join the police force and stay home to take care of his father. He’s filled with remorse and regret, and angry at his MD brother for not helping him continue his college career, where he was a fencing champion. Benator’s performance is so full of raw emotion. He convincingly wells up in tears on stage as old wounds are opened and new ones are revealed.

Eric Mendenhall as Victor is the brother who walked out on the family to pursue a medical career. Meticulously put together on the outside, his private life is a hot mess from a recent divorce and the prospect of putting forth effort to make amends with this brother after 16 years. Eric’s performance, while pragmatic and indifferent as the part demands, morphs into rage of emotion as he vehemently defends his choices and refuses to be the blame for his brother’s shortcomings.

Cara Mantella as Esther embodies the strong-willed late 1960s New York wife. She loves her husband, but, like his mother, is a bit self-absorbed and unsupportive. Cara delivers the appropriate range of emotion, and in the end, accepts Victor just as he is.

Finally, our dear friend, Brian Kurlander as Gregory Solomon, the quirky Russian appraiser, adds the element of comic relief to perfection. Brian is one of Atlanta’s best with an extensive career in stage and film. He’s a master character actor, and related in the talkback after the show that adding the element of an accent to memorizing extensive dialogue is a hearty exercise for the brain. 

One of the most striking aspects of THE PRICE is its pre-digital 1968 setting—an era when people had no screens to hide behind, only each other. After the show, I spoke with Brian Kurlander about his recent endeavors, and he told me, “In a this AI generated world it’s hard to know what’s real. That’s why I’m doubling down on theatre. It’s one of the last places we gather in community and have a shared experience. We see the sweat on the performers’ faces. We hear their voices and we know it’s not an algorithm. It’s human.” 

THE PRICE is Speakeysie heart and soul recommended. Come see the sweat on the brows, the raw emotions, and the misty eyes. Get your tickets for theatre at its finest and bring someone you love. I guarantee it’s worth the price. 

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