“Arsenic and Old Lace” good old-fashioned fun

MANCHESTER — If good old-fashioned fun is what you’re after, look no further than the Little Theatre of Manchester’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” running at Cheney Hall through Sunday.
This play started as a huge hit on Broadway beginning in 1941, and then was made into a wacky film by the same name, directed by Frank Capra and starring the inimitable Cary Grant.
It was based on a real murderess who lived right here in Windsor, Conn. Playwright Joseph Kesselring had heard of a case where a woman was convicted of poisoning elderly gentlemen and taking their money.
Hardly the stuff of comedy, but Kesselring wrote the play, somewhat based on the case, moving the locale to Brooklyn, New York.
Two sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster, harmoniously played by Debi Freund and Sara Logan, live alone in a large old home next to a church and cemetery. Their nephew, Mortimer Brewster is played with curmudgeonly sarcasm by Daniel Gilbreath.
What starts out as sarcasm raises to the level of astonishment and incredulity when he learns that his aunts have developed the nasty “habit” of knocking off lonely old men with arsenic and strychnine-laced elderberry wine, with “just a pinch of cyanide,” Martha says with glee.
Mortimer, who visits his aunts, has the unhappy profession of having to review plays for a newspaper, which he explains accounts for his miserable attitude. He is also in love with the girl next door, the parson’s daughter, Elaine Harper, played by Alysa Auriemma, who manages to squeeze every possible inch of life out of a rather feckless role.
Into this mix comes the long-lost elder brother, a real bad guy recently escaped from a mental institution for the criminally insane in Indiana, Jonathan Brewster, played with evil menace by Nick Demetriades.
He along with his alcoholic plastic surgeon sidekick, Dr. Einstein, played by Charles Merlis, attempt to move back into Brewster’s childhood home. Merlis, with his German accent and wild standup hair, captures the wacky, almost surrealistic over-the-top kookiness of this play.
The set is solidly designed by Fred T. Blish, who makes a stairway that any home would be proud to have.
It needs to be solid, too, because Mortimer’s other brother, Teddy Brewster (Sal Uccello) regularly charges up the stairs, blowing a trumpet at the landing, and digging Panama canals in the basement, thinking he is President Theodore Roosevelt. Uccello is funny and believable as the delusional, harmless Teddy.
A painted backdrop out the bay window stage left oddly features a mountain scene, which seems out of place considering the play is set next to a cemetery and a church in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The lighting, by Meghan Ryan, and the sound, by Adam Hartley are fine and well timed, with musical interludes enhancing the scary parts and the intense exchanges. Often music can be a distraction in plays when in the middle of a scene, but it works here, probably because it is such a farcical premise.
Occasional dated references to people such as Judith Anderson, an Australian actress well known when the play was written, left the audience behind, but the character humor in this black comedy will always be timeless.
“Arsenic and Old Lace” which runs through this weekend, is one funny, frivolous frolic down memory lane.

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

3 Stars
Location: The Little Theatre of Manchester, Inc. at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester.
Production: Written by Joseph Kesselring. Directed by Michael Forgetta. Stage managed by Lee Hammitt. Produced by Chuck Burns. Set designed by Fred T. Blish. Sound designed by Adam Hartley. Lighting designed by Meghan Ryan.
Running time: 2 1/4 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. through Mar. 15.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Debi Freund … Abby Brewster
Sara Logan … Martha Brewster
Daniel Gilbreath … Mortimer Brewster
Alysa Auriemma … Elaine Harper
Nick Demetriades … Jonathan Brewster
Charles Merlis … Dr. Einstein
Sal Uccello … Teddy Brewster
Michael May … Officer O’Hara
Jim Ryan … The Reverend Dr. Harper/Lt. Rooney
Timothy M. Rowe … Officer Brophy
Keith Giard … Officer Klein
Jared R. Towler … Mr. Gibbs/Mr. Witherspoon