QUITE possibly, in the entire history of the New Vic Theatre, there has never been an entrance like it. Gasping and groaning, coughing and choking, Gregory Solomon, impishly played by Christopher Goodwin, drags himself into Arthur Miller's The Price, which opened last night.

Once there, the New York furniture dealer – pronounced "foyniture" – splutters and stammers for what seems like an eternity before any meaningful utterance emerges. Truly, an entrance to savour – and one of the lighter moments in a play which peels back the layers of self-deception, half-truth and lies with which we surround ourselves. Indeed, as one of the characters remarks: "We invent ourselves to wipe out what we know."

The Price is set in the New York of the 1960s but its roots lie in the Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. As such, it is a sadly apt play for the current economic climate. This is epitomised by the furniture which clutters the stage and which policeman Victor Franz, played by Tom Hodgkins, wants to sell. The furniture belonged to his father who lost almost everything in the Depression.

Victor, however, is no businessman, and despite the urgings of his mercenary wife Esther (Deborah Maclaren), he is prepared to sell the lot at a knockdown price to the wily Solomon. That is, until Victor's estranged brother Walter (Paul McCleary) unexpectedly arrives, which is when the play takes a darker turn and Miller begins to delve into the human psyche.

Robin Herford's production does full justice to a piece that is relentless and merciless in its exposure of the myths on which lives are often built. However, the play also looks outward, at society at large. Shopping, Miller reminds us, has replaced religion, and if all the shops were to close there would be a massacre.

It's a shame the theatre was not full on opening night – ironically an indication, perhaps, of the economic downturn at the heart of Miller's play.

The Price runs until Saturday, March 14, and tickets are available from the New Vic box office on 01782 717962.

Paul Gubbins