New faces bring life to Arsenic & Old Lace at Portland Players

SOUTH PORTLAND — The Portland Players production of Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic & Old Lace” brings humor to the winter months from Jan. 25-Feb. 10. “Arsenic & Old Lace” will introduce a 12-member cast to the Portland area. Seven cast members are new to the Portland Players stage and one is making his theater debut.

Directed by Paul J. Bell, the play opens in the living room of the Brewster home, inhabited by two spinster aunts, Abby and Martha Brewster, and their nephew, Teddy. The aunts have two other nephews: Mortimer, a New York theater critic, and Jonathan, a maniacal criminal, who hasn’t been seen for 20 years. Throw in the neighbor, Reverend Dr. Harper, and his daughter, Elaine (Mortimer’s girlfriend), a couple of New York City policemen, a German plastic surgeon, and 11 or 12 dead bodies and you have a comedy/drama that will help lift you out of the winter doldrums.

The sisters perform charitable acts with a concoction of elderberry wine and a pinch of cyanide, while Teddy digs the Panama Canal in the basement. Bodies appear and reappear, Mortimer proposes to Elaine, policemen tell their stories, and Jonathan plans to kill Mortimer. See “Arsenic & Old Lace” at the Portland Players to learn what happens next.

Show times and ticket information: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, and $15 for students. Student Sunday is Jan. 27 and tickets are $6 on that date. Buy tickets online at www.portlandplayers.org or call 207-799-7337.

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