[NEohioPAL] Berko review: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, GLTF 9/27

[Roy Berko]

‘ARSENIC AND OLD LACE’ farces it up at Great Lakes
Theater Festival

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

--COOLCLEVELAND.COM--

A major decision any director who is  to stage
‘ARSENIC & OLD LACE’ must make is whether to present
the material as a black comedy, letting the lines of
the play develop the macabre humor and carry along the
plot; or as a farce, in which exaggeration is used to
heighten the hilarity; or as an enhanced farce, in
which a lot of shticks and gimmicks enhance the
already farcical situations and lines. 

Drew Barr, the director of Great Lakes Theatre
Festival’s ‘ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, has definitely
decided to use the enhanced farce mode.  There is nary
a line or movement which does not scream, ‘Laugh at
what I am doing, what I am saying.”  This approach
will probably delight most attendees as it makes for a
funny, funny evening.  Others may plead that the play
can stand on its own and doesn’t need all that
“unnecessary stuff” to make it joyful.

The script, a clever combination of the farcical and
the ghoulish, centers on two elderly sisters.  In
their Brooklyn neighborhood they are noted for their
charitable gifts and are beloved by the police and
neighbors alike.  What is unknown is that the “sweet”
duo’s works of charity include poisoning lonely old
men who come to their home looking for lodging.  
Their family home is also  the residence of a nephew
who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt.  They are often
visited by another nephew, Mortimer, a theatre critic
who eventually discovers that the aunts are hiding the
corpses in the window seat until Teddy can take the
“yellow fever” victims to be buried in the Panama
Canal (graves dug in the basement.)   A third nephew,
who has a resemblance to Boris Karloff, appears after
having escaped from a mental institution.   What
eventually happens?  I’m not telling.  All I can say
is that the ending is obvious, but never the less a
laugh delight!

Originally written by Joseph Kesselring, the script
was adapted for its New York production by Howard
Lindsay and Russell Crouse.  Interestingly, when
Kesselring taught at Bethel College, he lived in a
boarding house, and many of the features of its parlor
are reflected in the play’s description of the
Brewster’s living room, where the action of the play
is set.  The murderous old lady plot line may have
been inspired by events that occurred in a house in
Windsor, CT where an older woman took in boarders and
allegedly poisoned them for their pensions.
 

The play opened its New York run in January of 1941. 
Its form was perfect for the mood of the time. 
Playgoers were looking for some entertainment to take
their minds off the war in Europe and the growing fear
that America would be pulled into it.  The production
became an immediate critical and popular success,
running for 1,444 performances.  In 1944, Hollywood
released a film version directed by Frank Capra, which
stared Cary Grant.   The film was a box office
success.

The GLTF production goes all out for laughs, and
laughs it gets.  The performers bump into doorways,
trip over sofas, chase each other around like the
Keystone Cops,  and showcase over-exaggerated gestures
and facial expressions.  The overall effect is
exhausting, and depending on your sense of humor and
love of slapstick, either delightful or overdone.

This interpretation is perfect for mobile faced,
double-take expert Andrew May.  He is hysterical as
Mortimer, the theatre-hating reviewer who appears to
be the only member of the Brewster family who has any
semblance of sanity.  If you like May as an
off-the-wall character, you’ll love his performance.

Lynn Allison makes for a sweet Abby Brewster.  She
plays the part more for realistic comedy than for
farce.  On the other hand, Laura Perrotta, sounding
and looking like the late-Judy Holliday on
hallucinogenic drugs with a stiff neck, is way over
the top.  She is an excellent actress who didn’t need
to overdo everything to get laughs.

David Anthony Smith is perfect as Teddy.  He not only
looks the part, but sounds like Roosevelt.  Dougfred
Miller is properly evil as psychopathic Jonathan. 
Most of the rest of the cast follows the director’s
lead and are over the top.

Russell Metheny’s set is excellent, as are Charlotte
Yetman’s costumes.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  ‘ARSENIC AND OLD LACE’ isn’t a
message play.  It is a device to entertain the
audience, and entertain the GLTF production does.  One
wonders, however, if the same enjoyment could have
been engendered with a little more restraint.

‘ARSENIC AND OLD LACE’ runs through  October 21 at the
Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square.  For ticket
information call 216-241-6000 or go to
www.greatlakestheater.org




Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.  His reviews also appear on www.coolcleveland.com


       
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