By Mary Sterle
“Arsenic and Old Lace,” one of the fastest and weirdest farce-comedies ever written, will be presented by Texarkana College Dec. 6. Joseph Kesselring’s hit comedy about murder, madness, and merriment took New York by storm to set a record of 1,144 performances in its run of three and a half years.
The play, under the direction of Mrs. Mildred Parsons, is made up of a zany and hilarious collection of characters. They are Teddy, who spends most of his time under the impression that he’s really Teddy Roosevelt and that the Panama Canal runs through the cellar of his home, and Jonathan, who is determined to retain his rightful title as America’s most prolific murderer. Then there’s Doctor Einstein, whose job it is to change Jonathan’s face every time he has completed one of his murders.
Finally, there are Mortimer’s aunts, the lovable Abby and Martha Brewster, whose lethal brew of arsenic, strychnine, cyanide and elderberry wine “has never missed yet.” When all these people get together on a quiet September afternoon, in a quiet house on a quiet street in Brooklyn, repercussions almost unhinge Mortimer, the one sane Brewster, and completely demoralize the Brooklyn Police Force.
In the TC production, the sinister Jonathan Brewster, of the three faces and twelve corpses, will be played by Roy Autry. Paula Cohan will be seen as Abby Brewster, and Bonnie Cate as her sister Martha. Mortimer will be played by Gary Moran, and Teddy by George Davis. In the role of the face-lifting Doctor Einstein, Larry Hogue will be seen.
For an enjoyable evening of thrills and laughs don’t miss “Arsenic and Old Lace.”