Arsenic and Old Lace in Bancroft

“Arsenic and Old Lace” is that odd sort of play that is both bound to its time period—the early 40s—and fits very comfortably into the modern mood.  In fact, for a play about insanity, homicide, and overall weirdness, it has a comfortable warmth to it that has made it a perennial favorite of audiences for over eighty years.  Along with other congenial murder farces like Thornton Wilder’s “Shadow of a Doubt” (and several other stageplays turned into films by Hitchcock, most notably “The Trouble with Harry”), “Arsenic” can fairly be said to have been one of the origins of the currently popular genre of fiction referred to as the “cozy murder.” 

The “cozy murder” is generally defined by the quaintness of its setting, the low stakes of its drama, and the gosh-darn likability of its characters, murderers or otherwise.  And the North Gem Drama production of the play hit all those marks very nicely.  It would be completely impossible to stage a production of the play without an effective duo in the persons of the redoubtable aunts Abby and Martha, and Alyson Reed and Katelyn Whiting immediately sold the roles with assured individual performances, and perhaps more importantly, great timing as a pair.  The pair was so well-realized and natural that the few occasions when prompters Kaylin Jenkins and Indy Hatch were needed actually added to the scene as a showcase for improv and patient execution.

In order for the casually homicidal aunts to claim the affection of the audience though, the play also requires the two other ends of the spectrum—the genuinely villainous villains, and the straight men and women to stand proxy for the audience.  (Teddy Brewster, played by Jack Perry, is in a category of his own, of course, as the enthusiastically deluded relative who believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt digging locks for the Panama canal in the basement.  Perry played the over the top part with a nice comic flair.)

The villains were effectively villainous, and responsible for most of the physical comedy of the play.  Jonathan Brewster was handled with steady menace by Kaly Foster, in the part made most famous by Boris Karloff in the classic Capra film version.  Boozy henchman Dr. Einstein was played with an understated glee by Mercedez Mabey, and had some of the best comic reactions of the night.

As the Gary Grant stand in Mortimer Brewster, Parker Hill got stronger and stronger as the play went on, disappearing into the frazzled nephew role by the end.  And with him, Journey Gunter worked in tandem to create the central, stable pair of the play in a convincingly relatable way.

The various police officers also contributed a lot of comic accents to the scenes, with Kimberly Jensen, Jack Curtis, Luke Rindlisbaker, and Myken Rindlisbaker all adding a good mix of comic and serious flavor to the proceedings, as well as generating some excellent quick reactions to various mustache and prop issues (including one very persistent door).

Mr. Witherspoon, played by Sadie Daniels, the Reverend Dr. Harper, played by Ryver Hayden, and Mr. Gibbs, played by Mariah O’Brien, all managed to get in some good takes in their brief appearances as well.    

As with all the aspects of the play, the sense of the cast’s comfort and generousness with each other came across very strongly, and allowed the audience to experience the play with the players.  Rather than a crisis, small hiccups with missed lines (or that door again) became a fun part of the humor of the production.  And since the play is about plays and a drama critic criticizing dramas critically, that level of meta-enjoyment was right at home!

Director Candace Rindlisbaker introduced the performance by praising the work of the actors and everyone who had worked together to make the production happen, and she mentioned that in a small town everyone has to take on many roles to get things done.  That sense came across very clearly in the performance, and made it more than actors running through lines.  From hair and makeup by Brenda Barnes, Camille Yost, Mikelle O’Brien, to costuming, direction, and production help by Raquel Reed and Riley Askew, to sets and other support by Dennis Reed, the play was an absolutely cozy evening with a bunch of murderers.