Arsenic and Old Lace

This well known play by Joseph Kesselring is set in 1941 in the living room of the Brewsters. The set was very cleverly arranged to allow everyone to be seen clearly, sensibly uncluttered allowing for the few very necessary props to stand out. The window seat was cleverly placed making for great entrances and exits through the window itself and highlighting the ‘coffin’ in full view. The various bodies were exceedingly convincing and the excellent lighting provided by Tom Wortley cleverly disguised them when they were moved. His sound effects for the window seat added greatly to the atmosphere. Marlene Tincknell on the piano was a delightful addition and the staircase up which Teddy charged caused much laughter in the audience. This difficult and challenging play requires a very strong cast to be successful. This company had such a cast and were able to present a superb production that displays the best attributes of a dramatic society being dedication and team work from both on and off stage.

The lynch pin of this delightful production is two elderly ladies who advertise B&B in their home with the sole purpose of helping equally elderly and lonely gentlemen to a happy ending with a dash of arsenic in their glass of wine. Vinny Shepherd (Abby Brewster) and Maureen Ayres (Martha Brewster) were brilliant in their roles, very different but delightful. They somehow captured the characters to perfection. Living with them is their nephew Teddy played by Colin Bolton. Another outstanding performance, he was a joy to watch. Chris Harris as another nephew had the unenviable task, when visiting his aunts, of sorting out the ‘bodies in the cellar’ problem. A difficult role in more ways than one which he performed with polish and conviction. Into this impossible situation arrives nephew number three Jonathon (Jody Bull) and his doctor accomplice (Zahir White) with yet another dead body. Jody was malevolence personified and Zahir nasty and pathetic. I wouldn’t want to meet either of them on a dark night!! The rest of this excellent cast all filled their important roles with total conviction providing excellent support for the main principals.

This entertaining production, with all its twists, turns and amusing moments went down really well with the audience. My congratulations to the directors for an excellent job well done.

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