Arsenic, old lace & a pinch of gender bending
ELDER BURIES: Abby Brewster (Danny Scheie, left), Mortimer Brewster (Cody Sloan, center) and Martha Brewster (Michael Patrick Gaffney) contemplate the "charitable works" buried in the basement in Center REP’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Photo by Kevin Berne
It would seem that director Matt M. Morrow is a fan of Charles Ludlam’s The Mystery of Irma Vep, a broad satire of the horror genre that involves abundant cross-dressing, monsters and all kinds of farcical shenanigans. The kind of queer sensibility and zany mayhem of Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company is what Morrow aims to bring to Joseph Kesselring’s theatrical staple, Arsenic and Old Lace, Morrow’s first production in his debut season as the new artistic director of Walnut Creek’s Center Repertory Company.
Morrow’s greatest asset in his attempt to freshen up Kesselring’s story of murderous spinster aunts in pre-World War II Brooklyn is Danny Scheie, one of the sharpest, funniest actors ever to step onto a Bay Area stage. Scheie plays Abby Brewster alongside Michael Patrick Gaffney as Martha Brewster, and as outfitted in Halloween-ready gowns by Brooke Kesler and exaggerated wigs and makeup by Emily Haynes, these ladies are more than ready to continue their killing spree for (in their minds) a good cause.
Gaffney (left) and Scheie are the wine-making Brewster sisters. Photo by Kevin Berne
While Gaffney’s Martha runs around their spacious Brooklyn manse like Edith Bunker at her most manic, Scheie’s Abby plays up the Brooklynese accent and bites into Kesselring’s 85-year-old dialogue like it’s so much fresh meat. Scheie can wring laughs from just about anything, and he’s got a lot to work with here as Abby and Martha poison lonely old men boarders with their homemade elderberry wine (laced with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch of cyanide”) and then have their nephew (Catherine Luedtke), who happens to think he’s Teddy Roosevelt, bury them in their basement.
Kesselring’s blithe attitude toward mental illness in support of his black comedy has always been unsettling. Still, audiences have lapped it up for more than 80 years, and director Morrow attempts to give the play a modern spin not just with the cross-dressing leading ladies but also with much of the supporting cast, including assorted police officers. And then there’s bad guy among bad guys DeAnna Driscoll as maniacal Jonathan Brewster, the prodigal son whose international murder spree has brought him home to Brooklyn with his accomplice (and possible lover), Dr. Einstein (a very funny Skyler Sullivan), a hard-drinking plastic surgeon.
LAUGH YOUR KARLOFF: Prodigal son Jonathan Brewster (DeAnna Driscoll, left) returns to see Aunt Martha (Gaffney) accompanied by an alcoholic plastic surgeon, Dr. Einstein (Skyler Sullivan). Photo by Kevin Berne
The cross-dressing brings hyper awareness to cartoon nature of these characters, most of whom are caricatures of who they’re supposed to be: sweet little old ladies whose kindness is revered in their community are actually serial murderers; their drama critic nephew (Cody Sloan) is supposedly the sanest of them all; the beat cop (Addam Ledamyen) who has been writing his own theatrical opus for more than a decade; the minister’s daughter (Carla Gallardo) who most decidedly has a mind of her own.
The set by Yi-Chien Lee and lighting by Kurt Landisman provide a Beeltejuice haunted mansion vibe to the production, which also benefits from some funny cartoon sound effects and music cues in James Ard’s sound design.
The end result is a production that does conjure the edginess and farcical force of a Ludlam production, and Scheie is the absolute perfect ring leader, having starred in productions of Ludlam’s Irma Vep for the Aurora Theatre Company in 1997 and California Shakespeare Theatre in 2015 (read my review of that production here).
The great thing about Scheie and Gaffney’s sisters is that they convey sincere belief that they are doing right by their victims – saving them from the misery of their lonely lives. But there’s also a conspiratorial frisson they clearly enjoy with the appearance of each new victim. It’s all so sweetly psychopathic, and though the farce can get heavy toward the end of the show’s nearly 2 1/2 hours, there’s still a lot of kick left in Arsenic and Old Lace.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace continues through Sept. 29 in a Center REP production at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Running time is 2 hours and 20 minutes (including intermission). Tickets start at $81. Call 925-943-7469 or click here.
