 |
| Left to right: James Michael Gregory, Maya Rath, Paul Petersen. Photo courtesy San Leandro Players. |
As one of the quintessential American comedies, Arsenic and Old Lace, with its blend of
macabre humor and farce, withstands the test of time and remains hilarious to
this day. As the San Leandro Players navigate this play, the small, gutsy
company uses its intimate space to bring the physical humor out into the
audience.
The headlining characters of the show are Abby and Martha
Brewster (played by Jessi Lee and Terry Guillory, respectively), a pair of
aunts who delight in euthanizing lonely old men with poisoned wine. The pair
functions as a two-person comedy unit that charms the audience despite their
deadly hobby. Lee and Guillory shine as the Brewsters through a combination of
neighborly charm, well-meaning nosiness, and naiveté over their crimes.
Many other characters add to the over-the-top nonsense of Arsenic and Old Lace. Robyn Werk towers
over early scenes as Teddy “Roosevelt” Brewster: Her mixture of childish glee
and faux-Presidential outrage generates an entertaining performance. Contributing
genuine danger to the play are Boris Karloff lookalike Jonathan Brewster (Paul
Pedersen) and his partner-in-crime Dr. Einstein (Maya Rath). Pedersen does a
great job channeling Karloff’s sinister horror work as he menaces the rest of the
cast, while Rath lends a surprising amount of empathy to an ostensibly insane
plastic surgeon.
The San Leandro Players also do an interesting job in implementing
the play’s foils –serious characters with no real quirks that exist to react to
the others’ wackiness. James Paul Gregory plays the story’s ostensible
protagonist, Mortimer; he is the standard model of foil that attempts to
control the increasingly ludicrous antics of the play. Gregory manifests his
role with splendid physical comedy work, leaping maniacally from set piece to set
piece. Meanwhile, love interest Elaine (Natalie Moisa) serves as a foil to the
foil: As she has no idea what’s happening, even Mortimer’s actions seem
ridiculous to her. Moisa’s interpretation is charged with a justifiable
impatience; the dual foils provide a fascinatingly multilayered style of comedy
not seen in most farces.
Michael Guillory’s set work is standard for the play – the
aunts’ old-fashioned house, with doors aplenty for farcical antics – but
it not only accommodates, but takes advantage of, the limitations of the San
Leandro Players’ stage, which is very narrow and close to the audience. Objects
like the corpse-storing window seat are placed at a diagonal, giving the actors
more room to maneuver. Some set pieces are actually in front of the stage, so
the action merges into the audience. Director Mark O’Neill extends the action
across the horizontally oriented space, maintaining the actors’ visibility.
San Leandro Players’ production of Arsenic and Old Lace does justice to the evergreen American
classic. The morbid jokes and slapstick comedy are just as funny as they were
when the play premiered nearly 80 years ago, and the ensemble cast lends energy
and talent to Joseph Kesselring’s script.
Note: Natalie Moisa,
who portrayed Elaine in this production, is a personal friend.
Arsenic and Old Lace runs until August 13th.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
