“Arsenic and Old Lace” Review

Lakeview Centennial Theater’s troupe 753 put on a performance of “Arsenic and Old Lace” this past weekend and I went to see the show Saturday night, after the Friday night show had been canceled due to weather. I had heard great things about the show itself, so I was excited to see it put on by my theater troupe.

“Arsenic and Old Lace” is a dark comedy about the Brewster family who is far from ordinary. The show features Abby and Martha, two old sisters living with their 2 nephews in Brooklyn, NY. Throughout the timeline of one night, Mortimer, one of the nephews, discovers his aunts have been murdering men and burying them in the basement. The sisters very nonchalantly inform him that the body he found is the 12th victim. The story continues with Jonathan, the misfit brother, returning after running away years before. He brings with him a doctor who’s been operating on his face. The audience discovers that he too has murdered 12 people all around the world, including the one he has in the car outside. Through all the blackmail and murder, we find comedic relief in the hilarity of Teddy, the brother who thinks that he is Theodore Roosevelt.

The show started off slow. At first I wasn’t laughing and I was worried about having to sit there for 2 hours. It only took a few minutes for the show to really get me giggling to chuckling to laughing out loud. I enjoyed all parts of the show. I have to give major props to the cast for executing the dramatic irony and understatements perfectly. My favorite part had to be Teddy though. Every time he ran up the stairs yelling “CHARRRRGEEE!!!” or when he blew his trumpet out of the blue, I found myself trying to contain my laughter. I enjoyed the show immensely. Every show has its flaws, but this show had very few.

The cast will be putting on the show again, but this time as their UIL show. They will have to cut the show down to 45 minutes in order to compete with it in the spring. So if you missed out on a chance to see it, I HIGHLY suggest you go watch it when they put it on again. I promise that the show is to die for.