Arsenic & Old Lace

May 5, 6, 12 & 13 • 7:30pm
May 7 & 14 • 2pm

Treat yourself to some classic fun with this outstanding comedy presented by the North Carolina History Theater. Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic & Old Lace” was written in 1939 and first presented in 1941. Folks needed light entertainment as they were worried about war in Europe and the growing fear that America would be pulled into it. On January 10, Broadway gave them exactly what they were looking for in the form of a hilarious new play by Joseph Kesselring.

Many remember the 1944 Frank Capra film starring Cary Grant. We tend to think of dysfunctional families as a recent label.  This hilarious group shows they’ve been around a long time. In “Arsenic & Old Lace” drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police—not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage—it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic black comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.

Directed by Sue Baldwin, “Arsenic and Old Lace” promises to provide a lively evening full of classic entertainment.