USD 377

The Atchison County Drama Club of ACCJSHS, by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, New York, NY, is proud to present the classic comedy,  “Arsenic and Old Lace,” written by Joseph Kesserling. As the play opens, we meet the charming Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha, in their Brooklyn home. Their nephew, Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, discovers a dead body in the window seat, and learns that his aunts have developed a bad habit – killing lonely old people by poisoning them. The aunts have enlisted the help of another nephew, bugle-blowing Teddy, who imagines himself to be Teddy Roosevelt, in burying the bodies in Panama (the cellar), claiming they are Yellow Fever victims who must be buried in the “locks” he is digging for the “canal.” If that isn’t enough, a third nephew appears, Jonathan, who has been away for many years leading a life of crime, along with his sidekick, Dr. Einstein. Jonathan plans to make his boyhood home his new crime base, and he and Dr. Einstein have brought along a dead body of their own. Mortimer tries to make his aunts see the errors of their ways, commit Teddy to an asylum, and get Jonathan and Einstein to leave the Brewster house. Matters are complicated by several visitors dropping by including Rev. Harper, Mortimer’s fiancée Elaine, a potential boarder, Miss Gibbs, the superintendent of Happy Dale Sanitarium and several police officers. What happens during the rest of the play determines whether all ends well, or if Mortimer will end up another of the victims.

Caleb Miller is the stage manager, and the set was designed and built by Tim Walters. The show is directed by Noelle Walters.

The Cast

Abby Brewster.................. Jessica Holle

The Rev. Dr. Harper..........Presley Rodecap

Teddy Brewster.................Connor Hulett

Officer Brophy..................Jacob Chalfant

Officer Klein.....................Kolten Coy

Martha Brewster...............Keastra Suhajda

Elaine Harper...................Blair Fowler

Mortimer Brewster..............Andrew Miller

Miss Gibbs.............................Emily Schletzbaum

Jonathan Brewster..............Christian Cooper

Dr. Einstein.....................Angelito dela Cruz

Officer O’Hara......................Presley Rodecap

Lieutenant Rooney.............Christopher Larson

Mr. Witherspoon.................Ivan “Noll” Arnau