The St. Michaels Middle High School Drama Department proudly presents Arsenic & Old Lace in early November. The play, a clever combination of the farcical and the macabre, centers on two elderly sisters who are famous in their Brooklyn neighborhood for their numerous acts of charity. Unfortunately, however, their charity includes poisoning lonely old men who come to their home looking for lodging. The two women are assisted in their crimes by their mentally challenged nephew who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and who frequently blasts a bugle and yells, “Charge!” as he bounds up the stairs. Matters get complicated when a second nephew, a theater critic, discovers the murders and a third nephew appears after having just escaped from a mental institution. In his adroit mixture of comedy and mayhem, Kesselring satirizes the charitable impulse as he pokes fun at the conventions of the theater.
Produced and directed by Carol Reed, Arsenic & Old Lace brings a fine cast to the SMMHS stage. Elderly sisters Abby and Martha Brewster are played by Sarah Spittler and Mackenzie Campbell. Their theater critic nephew, Mortimer Brewster, is portrayed by Jacob Wheatley, nephew Teddy “Roosevelt” Brewster is played by Lily Ball, and criminally deranged nephew Jonathan Brewster is played by Ana Yacopino.
May Shaw portrays Mortimer’s fiancée, Elaine Harper and her father, the Rev. Dr. Harper is played by Logan Devaric. Dr. Einstein, an unsavory doctor who arrives with Jonathan, is played by Brad Duley. We also meet a number of the police officers in town – Lieutenant Rooney (Tori Gomez, understudy Cara McCue), Officer O’Hara (Kyla Mullaney), Officer Brophy (John Pettit), Officer Klein (Willie Felgenhouer),and assorted other officers (Kaila Regan, Anna Kabler) – and 2 of the lonely people who are targets ofthe Brewster sisters’ unique brand of charity, Ms. Gibbs (Hannah Bagley, understudy Shae Rowlands)and Ms. Witherspoon (Belle Jones, understudy Anna Kabler).
Performances will be in the St. Michaels Middle High School Theater, 200 Seymour Ave. in St. Michaels. The show opens on Thursday, November 5 at 7 PM, with 2 more performances following on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at 7 PM. Tickets, $5 per person, can be purchased at the door.
More information is available at WWW.SMMHSDRAMA.ORG.
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