Arsenic and Old Lace

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful play!
Review: "Arsenic and Old Lace" is an underrated classical play. The witty lines and fasted paced scenes (yes, scenes in writing can be fast paced.) will keep your attention constantly. This play may run long, when seen on the stage, but is great nonetheless. I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: "A shame...a nice family like this hatching a cuckoo."
Review: Although these words refer to Teddy Brewster in this hilarious play by Joseph Kesselring, they could have applied equally to most of the other members of the Brewster household. Teddy thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt, always "charging" upstairs when he is not in the basement digging "locks for the Panama Canal." His two elderly aunts, with whom he lives, also have their own bizarre secret, for which the hand-dug "locks" in the basement are employed to good effect.

Jonathan, Teddy's "disagreeable" brother, who disappeared many years ago, returns during the play with secrets of his own. With his face altered by plastic surgery, he is accompanied by Dr. Einstein, with whom he plans to set up an operating room in the house so the doctor can give new faces to criminals. The only normal person in the family is Mortimer, a drama critic who hates plays, engaged to marry Elaine, the innocent daughter of the minister next door. Mortimer is particularly upset by Jonathan's return--"the most detestable, vicious, venomous form of animal life I ever knew."

The frantic action, the ironies, the comic routines, and the dramatic surprises all center around two bodies, hidden at various times in the window seat of the living room, and the reactions to them by the various people within the household. The local police, friends of Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha, stop by to chat, have coffee, and protect these "sweet" old ladies, often at the worst possible moments, while Mortimer tries to decide what to do about his strange family and the bodies in the house.

Arsenic and Old Lace is such a strong play, with so many hilarious moments, that it is not surprising that this is a staple of local theaters and high school drama groups. Much of the play involves sight gags, contretemps, and weird characters behaving outrageously. Careful delivery of lines and subtlety of gesture are far less important here than the high- speed action, over-the-top characterizations, and split second timing of entrances and exits. One of the funniest and most often performed plays of American theater, Arsenic and Old Lace is as delightful in the twenty-first century as it was when it was first performed in 1941. Mary Whipple


Rating:
Summary: Two Aunts, Theodore Roosevelt, and Poison.
Review: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE is one of the classics of American theatre. It's a fast-paced play that has some great witty dialogue and unforgettable scenes. The play was made famous by the Frank Capra directed movie starring Cary Grant and has been a staple of community theatres across the USA since then.

Though there is a lead character here (Mortimer) the show is really carried by the supporting cast; e.g. it doesn't work without a Teddy who actually believes he's Theodore Roosevelt.

There are some plays that most people find boring to read. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE isn't one of them and I recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read and Production
Review: I read this play awhile back and absolutely loved it. When it came up in my drama class that we had to present a three act play as our exam I mentioned this one to my group and they loved it. We had a ton of fun putting it on and coming up with an interesting way to create a set of stairs at a school with no set pieces. I even brought in a couch. Our teacher ended up asking us to present it as a drama night to raise money for the department to buy set pieces. I recommend this play to anyone with a sense of humour.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!
Review: Read it, loved it, gotta do it! This would make a great production and be fun to perform! A must read!!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!
Review: This play is humorous but quite an impressive piece at the same time. There are some lovely bits in it, and if it is staged correctly, you're sure to get a lot of laughs by the end of the night. Einstein and Jonathan can really carry the show if they're cast well for each other, and Elaine adds a young face to the ensamble. A wonderful production.