by Christine Sarkes

Celebrating its 72nd anniversary, Theatre in the Round opens its season with a classic, screwball black comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace. Those of us ‘of a certain age’ will remember the brilliant 1944 movie adaptation, starring the incomparable Cary Grant and directed by the legendary Frank Capra. This zany and eccentric play hilariously mocks genteel Mayflower families, murderers, theater critics, clueless police officers and notions of class justice.

Audiences will enjoy the many laughs and energetically comedic performances in this production. Naomi Karstad (Martha Brewster) and Kristen C. Mathisen (Abby Brewster) are delightfully mad as the gentle, well-meaning, but murderous Brewster sisters. Lucas Gerstner, with his spot-on German accent and Peter Lorre impression, is really funny as the hapless criminal sidekick Dr. Einstein. Erin Granger as Officer O’Hara wins the best minor character award for her spirited Brooklyn cop portrayal. The dialogue is quirky and witty with some surprisingly modern innuendos and themes for its 1940s setting.

The plot revolves around the Brewster family, descended from Mayflower settlers but now composed of mentally ill, mostly homicidal maniacs. The protagonist, Mortimer Brewster (Ron Ravensborg), is a cynical theater critic who must deal with his crazy, murderous family and local police in Brooklyn, New York, as he debates whether to marry the woman he loves, Elaine Harper (Sarah Furniss), the daughter of the local minister. Mortimer discovers that his beloved spinster aunts are murdering lonely, old men without families by poisoning them with a glass of homemade elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and “just a pinch” of cyanide. A beloved brother, Teddy, believes he is Theodore Roosevelt and digs locks for the Panama Canal in the cellar of the Brewster home. Estranged murderous brother, Jonathan, who has received plastic surgery performed by fake surgeon Dr. Einstein, and now looks like horror-film actor Boris Karloff (an inside joke, as the part was originally played on Broadway by Karloff), has returned home unexpectedly to hide his crimes and claim his legacy. Mortimer struggles to rid his family of the crazies, while protecting his fiancé and aunts from Jonathan. The Brewster home is a popular Brooklyn landmark and is visited regularly by neighbors and local police, who are fiercely protective of the kind and generous aunts. The set design supports the physical comedy aspects of the play and Elaine’s 1940s glamour girl outfits are swoon worthy.

Arsenic and Old Lace, directed by George M. Roesler with sets designed by Lee Christensen, costumes by Rebecca Karstad, lighting by Mark Kieffer, props by Roxanne Miller, music composed by Donald
Sweet, and sound by Robert Hoffman. The play runs through October 1, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 2 pm at Theatre in the Round, 245 Cedar Avenue. Tickets are $25. Box office at 612-333-3010 or visit its website at TheatreintheRound.org. A post-show discussion with the cast and director will be held immediately following the performance on Sunday, September 24.