Arsenic and Old Lace

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

If anyone told me I would be mesmerized by yet another production of Joseph Kesselring’s farce, Arsenic and Old Lace, I would have laughed in their face. At least I would have attempted to muffle the giggles.

Cathy Washburn, Gary Leigh Webster and Nancy Thomas in a scene from Spotlight’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace.

Au contraire. That is exactly what happened. Spotlight Theatre Company’s production that unfortunately closed Friday night at the West Colfax E-Vent Center gripped me from the moment the house lights went down on Act I, keeping me spell bound until Act III spoke its final words.

Directed by Pat Payne and produced by Ken Crow, Arsenic produced laugh after laugh after laugh to full houses through its all too short run.

Why?

The talented production company understood the meaning of the word farce. No one in the cast played even one line for laughs. The cast took their characters seriously, no matter how ridiculous they might appear, never appeared to be laughing up their sleeves, bringing their characters richly to life to a delicious state of believability.

A black comedy written in 1939, Arsenic is probably best known for the film version starring Cary Grant that was filmed in 1941 but not released until 1944. However, it has been produced skillions of times in theatres of all sizes from community to professional theatres. When Kesselring taught at North Newton, Kansas’ Bethel College, he lived in a Boarding House. Many of the features of the Boarding House living room are reflected in the Brewster sisters’ Brooklyn living room.

The elderly spinster Brewster sisters pride themselves in living in Brooklyn’s oldest house. They pride themselves on having a strong social consciousness, providing mercy to lonely men without friends and family, treating them to poisoned Elderberry wine to keep their nephew, Teddy happy in his crazed world believing he is Teddy Roosevelt.

Teddy’s brother, Mortimer remains an enigma to the sweet innocent sisters. A manic theatre critic Mortimer hates the theatre, lives in New York City, and is very much in love with Elaine Harper, a minister’s daughter, who lives across the cemetery from the Brewster house.

The specific set directions for the Brewster house fit snugly onto the small intimate stage. Arthur Pierce paid close attention to details required for the “oldest house in Brooklyn.”

Nancy Thomas takes on the role of Abby Brewster in looks, dress, determined humor, and sweet pleasantness. Connected emotionally to the hip of Abby, Kathy Washburn wears Martha Brewster as second nature. Both Thomas and Washburn work hand in glove with each other as the innocent naive sisters who honestly believe that what they do and how they do it is the most noble kind effort they can possibly give to lonely men in support of their nephew, Teddy who is wonderfully played by Nick Ortiz-Trammel. Ortiz-Trammel takes Teddy on at face value. He doesn’t play Teddy for laughs. He plays him as a man who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt, who honestly believes the stairs are the San Juan Hill, who honestly believes the basement is the Panama Canal. Building the locks is a major job and he is determined to finish them. Of course there are workers who die from Malaria, and of course he has to bury them. He has no clue the Malaria comes strategically from homemade Elderberry wine laced with arsenic.

Hysterical out of control manic is definitely one way to describe Mortimer played to the hilt with artistic manic control by Jack Wefso. A Theatre critic who hates his job, Mortimer loves Elaine beautifully played by Catherine Smith. Kesselring provides some very funny lines for a theatre critic who hates his job, goes berserk when he discovers a body in the window seat, fears telling his aunts, turns white with panic in having Elaine find out compensating with emotional flips and summersaults to cut her out of the picture. Confused as Elaine is by Mortimer’s about face, she remains steadfast in her belief in their love.

The nephew no one talks about, Jonathan explodes onto the stage surrounded by a brilliant light framing the door, comes to life with Clint Heyn. On stage, he is terrifying. On the run with Dr. Herman Einstein (Wade Livingston), he figures the Brewster house would be the perfect hideout. The alcoholic surgeon Einstein was based on the real life surgeon gangster, Joseph Moran. Because of a third plastic surgery, performed by Einstein, everyone has great difficulty believing he is Jonathan. He does look familiar because now he is supposed to look like horror film actor Boris Karloff. For Jonathan to look like Karloff wasn’t part of the original script. It became a self-referential joke when Karloff originated the role on Broadway.

All too often, Jonathan is played for comedy, as are most of the other characters. There is nothing funny about this Jonathan. He is the epitome of terror in human form. With horrifying Jonathan in juxtaposition to the honest innocence of the Brewster sisters, the manic behavior of Mortimer, Teddy’s upside down belief he is Roosevelt, and Mark Shelton’s integration into Officer O’Hara’s obsession over becoming a playwright, the lines are enormously funny sitting side by side with the characters jumping to conclusions, confusing identities tied into an unnerving situation.

Dan Connell sets part of the mood at the very beginning as Elaine’s minister father, Dr. Harper, with a formal, straight-laced, proper ministerial political attitude giving insight to Elaine, demonstrating Abby and Martha’s sincere believability.

Brilliantly written with tight lines, played securely by every actor, and played straight, this production of Arsenic and Old Lace moves to the top of the list of the many times I have seen it performed. I actually feel I saw it for the very first time.

Of the 14 cast members, five claim small but important roles that are all too often given to anyone who will wear the costumes. Officer Klein (Luke Terry), Officer Brophy, (Peter Burghart), and Lieutenant Rooney, (Dave Haridson) take their few moments on stage as police officers acutely. Rick Reed playing Mr. Gibbs, a potential Brewster victim becomes freaked out by Mortimer’s hysterical phone call to his editor to get out of reviewing a play. Only a couple of minutes on stage, Reed captures the unnerved expression of someone vary of an upside down household.

Gary Webster takes on the role of Mr. Witherspoon, Executive Director of the Happy Dale Sanitarium where the sisters arrange for Teddy to live, making the most of his end of the play entrance going from confidence to vulnerable self-pity to the sister’s delicious hospitality with elderberry wine.

MB Nelson and Cat Smith corralled the 1940s look through defining costuming allowing the actors to look like they just stepped out of a 1940s photograph.

With this fast-paced farce, Arsenic and Old Lace is an astonishing piece of work by everyone involved in this small theatre not yet a year old. The production on every level rivals some of the strongest professional theatres in the Denver Metro arena, and that is saying a mouthful. The timing doesn’t miss a beat under the nano-second scrutiny. The saddest of all elements is that the short run has come to an end. It is a tragedy Arsenic and Old Lace could not be extended. It may be community theatre. The actors may not get paid, yet, but Spotlight and The “E” Project at the E-Vent Center are to be watched carefully. They contain a strong artistic eye for detail and talent, taking a tired old script, that before this production I honestly believed deserved retirement with grace and dignity. When produced as the farce it is meant to be when played straight, the comedy takes on a life of its own with down to earth rib shattering hilarity.