The holidays cause most of us to grapple with the reality of the tremendous dysfunction in our family life—the aunt who touts her eggnog, but no one wants to drink it; the brother who refuses to step outside and smoke; and that nasty cousin who always brings up politics. If you think no one has a family like yours, step into the world of Mortimer Brewster in Habersham Community Theater’s hilarious rendition of “Arsenic and Old Lace.”
The Brewster family
The Brewster family has a secret and not just one – more like twelve (as in dead bodies) and growing every day.
Mortimer Brewster, (Michael Fisher) steals the show with his exasperated expressions and impeccable comic timing.
He attempts to navigate the discovery that his two spinster aunts’ have a deep, dark habit of poisoning lonely old men and burying them under the house. That’s not his only problem, his brother (David Oppenheimer) thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt and is digging the Panama Canal in the basement, and another brother (Rufino Pato) shows up with a want-to-be plastic surgeon (Tom Pentecost) and is hiding from the police.
If that isn’t enough, he is engaged to be married to the adorable minister’s daughter, Elaine, (Thereasa Rinderknecht), who doesn’t know the family secrets.
He is trying to remain calm and maintain his job as a theater critic.
And you thought your life was tough…
This madcap comedy will have you laughing and on the edge of your seat, wondering what craziness will happen next. It’s the knock on the door each time that brings one more antic into the already overflowing problematic Brewster family.
Arsenic, strychnine, and cyanide
The toxic concoction of elderberry wine, offered to those who come to rent a room at the two elderly sisters’ home brings out the dark wit of the production. Martha (Sheila Humphrey) and Abby (Julie Harris) innocently explain to their nephew Mortimer, who accidentally discovers a dead body in the window seat, that the deaths are a service they are giving to those who have lost the will to live.
Directors Chris Bryant and Mary Decker have a knack for storytelling.
From the facial expressions to silent asides, Bryant and Decker know how to enhance the actors and the script to bring the audience into the funny, out-of-control, ‘nothing anyone can do about it’ family discord surrounding the Brewsters.
The old family home gives the perfect setting of a ‘needing a good dusting’ yet elegant and perfect house for the time era. Portraits adorn the walls of family members who once lived there. All the while, the sisters are innocently planning and waiting for the next victim to arrive for a taste of their wine.
The show offers arsenic, strychnine, and a pinch of cyanide along with a nasty villain, a deranged brother, murderous aunts, a mad German doctor, officers who put Barnie Fife to shame, and the unsuspecting old men who walk into the spinsters’ web.
Ticket Information
Settle down for a night of entertainment with the Habersham Community Theater opening on Thursday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m., running through 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, and 24 at 7:30 p.m., and November 16, 17, 23, and 24 at 2 p.m. You can purchase tickets online at Habersham Community Theater.
Call the Theater Office at (706) 839-1315. Remember, many times a show will be sold out, but there are available seats. Visit Will Call and let them know you would like to purchase a ticket and they will let you know what is available.
