Joseph Kesselring’s 1939 play Arsenic & Old Lace has haunted my childhood and delighted my adult years. How could you not be entranced over a play about two sweet old women who think it their God-given duty to cure sad men of their loneliness. No, not like that. Abby and Martha Brewster (played by Marilyn Duryea and Vivian Meisner) have whipped up a deadly dose of elderberry wine to serve their potential lodgers. Only, as the bodies pile up, something goes awry.
Directed by Eric Chase, Dysfunctional Theatre Company’s production of this classic play proved just as humorous and captivating as the 1941 movie staring Cary Grant. Taking over the role of Mortimer Brewster, a theatre critic who hates the theatre, Rob Brown tapped into Grant’s charm and finesse in the role. His rendition of Mortimer brought out the dry wit, comedic timing, and logic amid the insanity flavor of the character.
Also fit for the part, Peter Schuyler’s take on the loony Teddy Brewster had me cowering each time he blew the bugle and shouted charge as he raced down the aisle from the stage to the lobby. The intimacy of the Kraine Theater in the East Village added to Teddy’s entrance and exits. Schuyler played crazy well, oblivious to the devious deeds around him and his insistence on being looked upon as Theodore Roosevelt. The other brother, Jonathan Brewster, was supposed to look like Boris Karloff, who actually played Jonathan in the play’s first run, but didn’t have the right build. Justin Plowman did, however, look mean with his dark, drooping eyebrows and the jerky movement he made when trouncing across the stage.
All the actors in this production did a stellar job, with only a few stutters to the lines but every emotion in place. Ron Bopst as Dr. Einstein (Jonathan’s German “doctor,” the one responsible for making him look like Karloff) was pleasingly plump and sweating as he did the biding of his boss, albeit reluctantly. Mortimer’s spitfire fiancée Elaine (played by Jennifer Gill) fumed and flirted as she tried to understand what was going on (something that never really came to pass you realized by the end). Of course, the two aunts also stirred about the stage in a calm, dainty way. With her bird like reactions and soft, steady speech, Duryea’s Abby proved especially excellent.
Also on stage were the cops. Played by Michael DeRensis, Craig Peterson and Mike Roche, these guys channeled the three stooges, only in blue and with squirt guns. Chase did right by having two of them (DeRensis and Peterson) act as comic relief and heckle the audience during scene changes. Overall, I think it would be hard to mess up a script as good as Arsenic & Old Lace. Chase and his cast didn’t even get close to disaster, and with the extra touches, he added a new twist to the story. For the cheap price and quality of this production, now is a good time to revisit this play.
>Arsenic & Old Lace
Though June 27, The Kraine Theater; 85 E. 4th St. (betw 2nd Ave. & Bowery), 212-868-4444; times vary, $18
Photo by Jason Unfried
