Directed by Tom Littlefield.
Originally presented in New York on August 18, 1941, Arsenic and Old Lace is a wild, zany comedy that has lost nothing in the intervening years, just as timely today as it was then.
The play, set in "present day" Brooklyn, featured a family populated by two elderly sisters who, on the surface, were as dear and charming as you would ever want, but had a penchant for bringing single elderly gentlemen into their home and plying them with a particularly potent elderberry wine.
They were aunts to three brothers who were, each in his own way, as eccentric as you would ever want to meet. One, a homicidal maniac, looked just like Boris Karloff and oddly enough was originally played by Boris Karloff. How's that for type casting! Another lived with the delusion that he was actually Teddy Roosevelt reincarnated and reliving Teddy's life as perceived through the study of the original. Sound confusing? The third brother seems somewhat normal and lives a successful life as a drama critic, but is in reality caught up by his family's odd behaviors and forced to bend his own life to accommodate theirs. (Adapted from Tom Littlefield's director's note.)
Cast | |
---|---|
Dr. Herman Einstein | Elton Cole |
Officer Brophy | Alex Davis |
Lieutenant Rooney | Michael Davis |
Officer Klein | Abe Haslett |
Abby Brewster | Sally Jones |
Jonathan Brewster | Chris Libby |
Mortimer Brewster | Jeremiah McDonald |
Mr. Gibbs | Richard McIntosh and Tom Littlefield |
Elaine Harper | Savannah Sessions |
Officer O'Hara | Steve Sessions |
Teddy Brewster | Eric Teichman |
Mr. Witherspoon | Dennis Twitchell |
Dr. Harper | Diane Whitmore |
Martha Brewster | Alison Whitney |
Crew | |
---|---|
Producers | Claire Sessions and Norman Hutchins Jr. |
Director | Tom Littlefield |
Stage manager | Diane Whitmore |
Props | Claire Sessions |
Costumes | Judi Foster |
Lights | Norman Hutchins, Jr. |
Set construction and painting | Claire Sessions, Steve Sessions, Elton Cole, Chris Libby |
House manager | Kelsey Franklin |
Publicity | Sheila Rollins |
Poster, program, tickets | Richard McIntosh |
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