{"id":398,"date":"2015-01-24T17:53:19","date_gmt":"2015-01-24T17:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cpwp.comptonplayers.co.uk\/?page_id=398"},"modified":"2015-02-19T09:29:53","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T09:29:53","slug":"arsenic-and-old-lace-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.comptonplayers.co.uk\/comptonplayers-c\/?page_id=398","title":{"rendered":"Arsenic and Old Lace (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joseph Kessellring<\/span><\/p>\n

22nd – 24th October 1981<\/h2>\n

Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic, has just got married and is about to go on his honeymoon when he discovers insanity runs in his family. His sweet maiden aunts poison lonely old men and have a number of corpses buried in the cellar…<\/p>\n

\"arsenic<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The Cast<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abby Brewster: Elizabeth Saxton
\nThe Rev. Dr Harper: David Baird
\nTeddy Brewster: Peter Monger
\nOfficer Brophy: Charles East
\nOfficer Klein: Michael Martin
\nMartha Brewster: Marjorie Treacher
\nMortimer Brewster: Eric Saxton
\nElaine Harper: Vivienne Kendall
\nMr Gibbs: David Baird
\nJonathon Brewster: Rob Bell
\nDr Einstein: Nick Roberts
\nOfficer O\u2019Hara: Royce Treacher
\nLieutenant Rooney: Ian Hickling
\nMr Witherspoon: John Sanford<\/p>\n

Produced by John Sanford\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Newbury Weekly News review<\/h3>\n
\n

Classic horror comedy had our critic cheering<\/h2>\n

Strictly speaking, I suppose it does not do for a critic to be discovered cheering at the end of a performance that is to be the subject of a review \u2013 it does rather pre-empt the review! But why shouldn\u2019t the cast know at the time how much their efforts have been appreciated? I found myself cheering on Friday, along with a large section of the audience at Compton Players\u2019 presentation of Arsenic and Old Lace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was some years since I had last seen it and I had wondered if it would live up to my recollection of it. It is a superbly constructed play and so beautifully sustains both suspense and comedy (right up to what must surely be one of the best punch-lines ever) that I found myself enjoying it even better this time.<\/p>\n

The penguin dictionary of Theatre describes it as \u201cthe classic horror comedy\u201d with two highly respected ladies committing mass murders \u2013 \u201cjust one of our charities\u201d says one of them! Their totally matter-of-fact approach to the murder and disposal of their victims is partly the basis of the comedy.<\/p>\n

In this production the almost telepathic teamwork between Elizabeth Saxton and Marjorie Treacher as the two old ladies was magnificent\u2026 every look and every gesture were just right. I could have wished Elizabeth Saxton\u2019s wig to have been a little whiter \u2013 she looked a shade too young for the role \u2013 but this is no reflection on her acting.<\/p>\n

Peter Monger was punctiliously correct as Teddy Brewster, the old ladies nephew who thought himself to be President Roosevelt, but who was nevertheless single \u2013handedly engaged in digging the Panama Canal in the cellar \u2013an activity which proved singularly useful when it came to disposing of the so-called \u201cyellow-fever\u201d victims above-stairs.<\/p>\n

Normality was represented very convincingly, by Eric Saxton, as nephew Mortimer, in love with the engagingly normal girl-next-door played by Vivienne Kendall, a newcomer to Compton Players. It was Mortimer to whom there fell the responsibility of preventing his aunts from continuing their macabre \u201ccharity work,\u201d but before he could do so real menace came into their lives with the return of the third nephew, Jonathan, and his friend \u201cDr Einstein.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob Bell\u2019s slow deliberate movements, his quiet thoughtful manner of speech emphasised Jonathan\u2019s sinister appearance, and with a running commentary of his past misdeeds supplied by the obviously terrified Dr Einstein (Nick Roberts) they produced some very suspenseful moments.<\/p>\n

Four local policemen visit the old ladies during the course of the play and it was eventually the unobservant but loquacious Officer O\u2019Hara (played with considerable relish by Royce Treacher) who saved the day by literally boring Jonathan and his friend to sleep when they were in the very act of attempting to murder Mortimer.<\/p>\n

The play is set in America in the 1940s and the entire cast successfully sustained American accents without overdoing them. There were one or two moments when the pace unaccountably slowed, but these were momentary and never concerned the principals in this play. This was John Sanford\u2019s first production for Compton Players and he also took a small role in fact, that of the old ladies’ final victim. What a way to treat the producer.<\/p>\n

Arsenic and Old Lace<\/strong> drew capacity audiences on every one of the three nights it was performed and the finances of the new Social Hut will benefit accordingly.<\/p>\n

ELIZABETH BLACK\n<\/p><\/div>\n