Arsenic and Old Lace at HCT

Last night I was able to see Arsenic and Old Lace at Hale Centre Theatre. Despite the fact that I consider myself to be quite the theatre aficionado, I have never seen this long-running play (or the popular movie starring Cary Grant) before.  Now I understand why it had 1,444 performances on Broadway;  it is absolutely hilarious!  Mortimer Brewster visits his aunts Abby and Martha only to discover a dead body in the window seat.  He learns that several old and lonely men have visited, answering an advertisement for a room to rent, and that the Brewster sisters have done their Christian duty by ending their misery with a glass of elderberry wine (with the addition of arsenic). Their nephew (and Mortimer's brother) Teddy, who just happens to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt, buries these men in the cellar because he thinks he is digging locks for the Panama Canal. Chaos ensues when Mortimer's brother Jonathan, a homicidal maniac, returns to the house needing to dispose of his own dead body which ends up, you guessed it, in the window seat.  Throw in an unwilling accomplice, a bumbling policeman who really wants to be a playwright, and a curious fiance and you have a thoroughly entertaining dark comedy that will keep you laughing all evening.  All of the performances are great.  One of my former colleagues, Claire Spencer, plays Martha and it was really fun for me to see her on stage and visit with her after the show. Brandon Green is absolutely hysterical, and a little bit creepy, as Jonathan Brewster.  I have seen him in previous productions at HCT and the physical comedy he brings to each role is second to none!  As always, I absolutely loved the set!  Kacey Udy, the set designer, created the perfect drawing room full of red velvet arm chairs, lamps with stained glass shades, and lace antimacassars.  I also loved the costumes worn by the Brewster sisters, especially the black bombazine dresses they wear for the funeral services of the men they kill.  I thoroughly enjoyed this production, but I recommend it for adults.  The show runs until May 31 and tickets range from $27.00-$16.00.  You can purchase tickets here but shows are selling out quickly.