Arthur Miller's The Price, Lighthouse, Poole

FORTY years after it was first written, The Price remains an extraordinary piece of theatre.

With dialogue that crackles with anger, pain, resentment and guilt, it examines the need for people to take responsibility for their own actions and the price they pay if they don't.

Compass Theatre's production is not without its flaws but the sheer power of playwright Arthur Miller's words soon eclipse any minor criticisms.

A fine set evokes the atmosphere of the cluttered attic rooms of a condemned Manhattan brownstone.

It is 1968 and two long estranged brothers are meeting to dispose of their late father's furniture.

It is a painful reunion haunted by memories of the Wall Street Crash which ruined their once prosperous life and set the boys on very different paths.

They are the ying and yang of a capitalist society. Robert G Slade is excellent as Vincent who gave up everything to stay with his dad.

Resentful wife Esther (Amanda Bellamy) tries to push her man into being more assertive without success. Peter Banks meanwhile plays the ruthless Walter who turned his back on the family to claw his way to his own fortune...

As the men desperately try to come to terms with each other and the mistakes of their past an elderly furniture dealer - the aptly named Solomon (Stuart Richman) - makes his own judgement of their strengths and failings. And of course the price he's prepared to pay for their furniture.