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Arsenic and Old Lace (play)
Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring written in 1939. It has become best known through the film version, which starred Cary Grant.
Of the 12 plays written by Kesselring, Arsenic and Old Lace is the only one to be successful. The play is a farce revolving around Mortimer Brewster, a theatre-hating drama critic who must deal with his crazy family and local police as he debates whether to go through with marrying the woman he loves. His family include two spinster aunts who have taken to murdering old men by poisoning them with arsenic, a brother who believes he's Teddy Roosevelt, and a criminally murderous brother who - due to botched plastic surgery to evade the authorities - now looks like horror-film actor Boris Karloff (a self-referential joke, as the part was originally played by Karloff). The basic plot matches that of the movie adaptation.
When Kesselring taught at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, he lived in a boarding house called the Goerz House, and many of the features of its living room are reflected in the Brewster sisters' living room, where the action of the play is set. The Goerz House is now the home of the college president.
The first Broadway production of the play was at the Fulton Theater in New York City. It was produced by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. The play was directed by Bretaigne Windust , and opened on 10 January 1941. On 25 September 1943, the play transferred to the Hudson Theater . It closed there on 17 June 1944 having played 1,444 performances.
The opening night cast consisted of:
- Jean Adair (Martha Brewster)
- John Alexander (Teddy Brewster)
- Wyrley Birch (The Rev. Dr. Harper)
- Helen Brooks (Elaine Harper)
- Bruce Gordon (Officer Klein)
- Henry Herbert (Mr. Gibbs)
- Josephine Hull (Abby Brewster)
- Allan Joslyn (Mortimer Brewster)
- Boris Karloff (Jonathan Brewster)
- William Parke (Mr. Witherspoon)
- John Quigg (Officer Brophy)
- Anthony Ross (Officer O'Hara)
- Edgar Stehli (Dr. Einstein)
- Victor Sutherland (Lieutenant Rooney)
The play is still widely performed and has been translated into many languages.
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