by Tony Annicone
The current show at the Renaissance City Theatre Inc., the producing entity at the Granite Theatre is “Arsenic and Old Lace”, a farcical black comedy from yesteryear. Set in the 1940’s, “Arsenic and Old Lace” tells the story of newspaper critic, Mortimer Brewster, who is anxious to marry his fiancee, the girl-next-door and a minister’s daughter, Elaine. But standing between them is the wackiest, weirdest family tree that ever grew.
It takes place in an old Victorian house in Brooklyn and is about two sweet spinster sisters, Abby and Martha who bump off elderly gentlemen with no families by serving them poisoned elderberry wine. Mortimer’s two brothers are Teddy, who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt and digs locks in the basement to bury the dead gentlemen and Jonathan, a mad dog killer who has bumped off 12 victims and wants one more to beat his aunts record. The only sane member appears to be Mortimer but he is a drama critic so who knows how sane he really is? He must deal with his homicidal family and assorted characters running in and out of the show. They include four cops, a minister, his daughter, a drunken doctor who is really a hoodlum, a would be victim of the ladies and the owner of the rest home. Director David Jepson casts these wild and crazy characters wonderfully, eliciting strong performances from them and providing much laughter and fun for the appreciative audience members.
David blocks his performers beautifully, having them utilize the whole playing area which is a gorgeous two story Victorian set. Bravo. The two topnotch actresses leading this show are Beth Jepson as Abby and Christine Reynolds as Martha. Their line delivery is splendid and you’d swear they were sisters in real life. Beth and Christine run the gamut of emotions from sweet to wacky, to frightened and back again. Their reason for disposing of these gentlemen is because it’s part of their charitable work. Both of them handle the enormous amount of dialogue with ease and their crazy antics are hilarious. They win a standing ovation at the end of the show.
John Cillino as Mortimer, handles the role beautifully. Mortimer seems pompous at times but his aunts and girlfriend keep his behavior in check as do the many dangerous situations he gets himself into as well. His exasperation at his crazy family and his wild antics lead to much laughter. Ann Westendorf plays Elaine, Mortimer’s girlfriend. She does a nice job in this underwritten role by giving her the spunkiness it needs. The biggest scene stealer in this show is Fergus Milton as Teddy. He is hilarious as he runs up and down the stairs blowing his bugle and yelling “Charge” or running into the basement to bury the yellow fever victims. Fergus also blows the bugle to summon cabinet meetings or charging up San Juan Hill. His interactions with his aunts are laugh out loud moments, too. I have many pleasant memories of playing this role back in 2001 for Community Players.
The villains of this show are Jude Pescatello as Jonathan and Michael Jepson as Dr. Einstein. Jude shines in this role of the mad dog killer who looks like Boris Karloff due to Einstein’s faulty plastic surgery. His menacing gestures and threatening mannerisms scare the audience thoroughly. Jonathan wants everyone to bow to his will and Jude does an excellent job as this obnoxious and vile character. Another scene stealer is Michael as the constantly drunk doctor. He plays the part with a comic German accent and is excellent as this drunken plastic surgeon who botches up his operations due to his heavy drinking. Michael’s line delivery and comical facial expressions will leave you laughing merrily all night long. Kudos to one and all in this classic comedy. So be sure to catch “Arsenic and Old Lace” which is a topnotch madcap romp before time runs out.
ARSNEIC AND OLD LACE (15 September to 8 October)
Renaissance City Theatre Inc., Granite Theatre, 1 Granite St, Westerly, RI
1(401)596-2341 or www.granitetheatre.com
