There is nothing quite so timeless as a tale of family strife.

Written by Arthur Miller in 1968, The Price carries as much power now as it did back upon release.

Victor is a beat-cop who has spent 28 years pounding the streets and has the mental scars to show for it. He has arrived back at his childhood home – heaving with antiquated furniture and due to be demolished – with the intent of selling off what is left.

In walks Gregory Solomon, an octogenarian bearing the weight of his years (but with more than enough chutzpah to compensate), invited to give a final value on the precipitous pile of armoires and walnut chairs. He is followed by Victor’s wife, the put-upon Esther and his estranged brother Walter – the epitome of success.

What ensues is a bitter series of regrets, recriminations, reconciliations, remediation and remorse, all through coming to terms with the absence and memory of their long-dead father, by turns a saint or a pathological liar.

At the heart of this is, of course, money - the lives of both brothers have been seized by it. Victor, on the assumption his father was penniless, dedicated every waking moment to providing for the fallen millionaire (taken as with millions of others by the cruelty of the Great Depression). Walter, knowing a little more, decided to make his own fortune, but bears the unresolved guilt of being the 'one who got away'.

David Suchet gets top billing as the irrepressible Gregory Solomon and makes an indelible impression. This is a man who skilfully skirts the line between cynical salesman and twinkly-eyed sweetheart, with the audience never quite sure what to make of him.

This is also true of Victor (Brendan Coyle), who in his heart sees himself as a paragon of self-sacrifice but is just as human as anyone else.

Coyle invites a beaten-down sympathy to the character, a moral purity which almost infantalises him at times, but also a well-worn rage at life which can rear its dangerous, ugly head at any moment. Sara Stewart and Adrian Lukis also impress as Esther and Walter, witnesses and participants in this farce of pathos and penury.

Arthur Miller’s protagonists are ordinary people with real problems. He finds the drama in everyday life but never sensationalises. This is a confident production of an evergreen play, and is essential viewing - especially for fans of Miller's work.

The Price runs at the Theatre Royal Bath until August 25. By Sean Cameron