Director Jonathan Munby talks new London revival of ‘The Price’: “I’m interested in how the play speaks to a post-Covid world”

London’s Marylebone Theatre presents a brand new revival of Arthur Miller’s intimate play about inherited trauma and family relationships. Guillermo Nazara chats with the man behind its latest incarnation to learn about his vision — as well as Miller’s ability to speak across generations.

How does it feel to direct this latest revival of Arthur Miller’s classic?

I’m genuinely thrilled to have been given the opportunity. It’s a play I’ve loved for a long time, and to be working with such great actors, an incredible creative team, and within the intimacy of the brilliant Marylebone Theatre is a real gift. This is a play that sits quietly but powerfully in the canon, and directing it offers the chance to rediscover its emotional precision and moral complexity.

The London scene has been currently buzzing with new productions of Miller’s repertoire. From your perspective, what are the reasons to keep bringing him back?

We need Miller. He asks the important questions that, as a society, we’re often too afraid to confront. He has an extraordinary ability to dramatise the private struggles of individuals in a way that reflects wider societal tensions. His plays are deceptively straightforward, but they pose very big questions about responsibility, identity, and truth. Each generation finds something new in his work because those questions don’t go away—they simply evolve with the times.

What do you think makes this play stand out from the rest of Miller’s oeuvre?

The Price is, in many ways, one of his most intimate plays. It’s less outwardly dramatic than some of his others, but emotionally it’s just as explosive. What makes it stand out is its focus on memory, regret, and the cost of choices made decades earlier. It’s a play about reckoning—quiet, relentless, and deeply human.

The original piece premiered back in the 60s, and its background is set right after The Great Depression. Have any elements of the story been modernised?

The play is rooted in a specific time, but its emotional truths feel strikingly contemporary. Rather than modernising the setting, we’ve focused on clarity and immediacy in the performances, allowing audiences to connect the themes to their own lives.

In a world that’s become more self-centred, how do you think its themes of sacrifice will resonate with contemporary audiences?

I think the play lands even more sharply now. It asks what we owe to others—family, in particular—and what we owe to ourselves. Those tensions feel incredibly current. Audiences may find themselves questioning whether sacrifice is noble, necessary, or sometimes even self-deceptive. There’s also something else Miller explores that feels very present today: the idea of disposability. We live in a disposable age, and that’s something echoed throughout the play.

Will this production explore any new themes?

Rather than adding new themes, we’ve tried to excavate what’s already there. One area we’ve leaned into is the idea of perspective—how two people can live through the same past and emerge with completely different truths. That feels especially relevant now. I’m also interested in how the play speaks to a post-Covid world, where opposing paths are laid bare and we’re forced to consider how we move forward as a society—towards sacrifice or self-interest—when the system itself feels broken.

What can you tell us about your approach to the piece?

The approach has been rooted in honesty and a search for emotional and psychological truth. We’ve aimed to create a design that allows the audience to feel complicit in the action—to lean in, as if they’re eavesdropping on something deeply personal and unfolding in real time.

Have you found any particular challenges in this story and its characters?

The biggest challenge is balance. The play lives in conversation, and it requires a very precise calibration of pace and emotional shifts. The characters are complex—they’re neither heroes nor villains—and finding that nuance without tipping too far in one direction has been a key part of the process.

Are there any highlights in this production that you would like to flag?

Without giving too much away, there are moments where the emotional temperature shifts almost imperceptibly, and those are incredibly powerful. There’s also a real sense of accumulation—the way small details build into something much larger by the end.

Why come see this production of The Price?

Because it offers a rare opportunity to sit with a story that asks profound questions without easy answers. It’s intimate, thought-provoking, and ultimately very moving. If you’re interested in theatre that lingers with you long after you’ve left the auditorium, this is a piece that delivers exactly that.

Production pictures credit to Mark Senior.

The Price plays at London’s Marylebone Theatre until 7 June. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara