THEATER REVIEW : Performances, Drama Make ‘Price’ Right On : The 1968 comedy at the Santa Paula Theater Center concludes the ad-hoc Arthur Miller Festival in Ventura County.

Two middle-aged brothers, estranged for many years, are brought together when one arranges for the sale of their late parents’ furniture. The purchasing agent is a 90-year-old appraiser and dealer--and, it appears, a consummate con artist.

Such is the plot of “The Price,” the 1968 play that, in a Santa Paula Theater Center production, concludes an ad-hoc Arthur Miller Festival that’s been taking place in Ventura County for the past month or so. Unlike “A View From the Bridge” (which ends Saturday at the Conejo Players’ Theater) or “The Crucible” (performed, also in Thousand Oaks, by the Young Artists’ Ensemble), this is a comedy.

But “The Price” is an Arthur Miller comedy, which means that there’s lots of Deep Inner Meaning, not to mention dramatic confrontations aplenty and more than a little speechifyin’.

Victor Franz is a career cop who, never having risen above the rank of sergeant, is fighting his wife’s attempt to urge him into a retirement that, she hopes, they can enjoy together. Comfortable in his routine job, he is afraid of an uncertain future. He also resents his brother Walter, a successful physician whose investments have added to his wealth and social status.

It’s strong drama--Miller’s attempt at ‘60s language and notions sound more like a decade or two earlier, which is appropriate in light of the characters’ age--as the two brothers do their figurative dance under the assured direction of Gerald Castillo.

SPTC Artistic Director David Ralphe stars as the bullheaded and suspicious Victor, as much a blue-collar prototype as was Archie Bunker of the TV series “All in the Family.” Linda Livingston plays his wife, Esther, longing for just a bit of the good life after all these years, a reward that will be made possible by the revenue from the furniture sale plus Victor’s pension. And Braden McKinley is seen as polished, professional brother Walter.

Stimulating the interaction--and all but walking away with the play in a richly comic performance--is veteran local actor Robert E. (Doc) Reynolds as Gregory Solomon, a Russian Jewish emigre who is asked to make an offer on the furniture. While wise old Solomon assesses the value of the treasure and detritus of many decades past, he causes the others to re-evaluate the toll--the “price”--that life has extracted from them.

The series of reflections and confrontations take place in a detail-laden top-floor apartment designed by Jeff Garcia and lit by Robin Shirley. And somebody made a commendable effort to track down vintage recordings called for in the play.

A note of praise, too, for the Theater Center’s new printed program design, with copious notes on the play and production as well as news of upcoming events. Credited to theater manager Rose Blackburn and with contributions by the production staff and cast, it’s far and away the best in Ventura County.

Details

* WHAT: “The Price.”

* WHEN: Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8 and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., through March 27.

* WHERE: Santa Paula Theater Center, 125 S. 7th St.

* COST: Thursday and Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons: $10 general admission, $7.50 students and senior citizens. Saturday evenings: $12.50 general admission, $10 students and senior citizens.

* FYI: Children aren’t likely to find this play particularly interesting. For reservations or information, call 525-4645.