From the outside, the Brewster family seems relatively normal. But a deeper look at the group that calls Brooklyn home reveals a much different picture.
Abby and Martha Brewster are well respected in their neighborhood, but they have a secret. The two spinster aunts have been murdering lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and “just a pinch” of cyanide.
One brother, Mortimer, is a drama critic and has promised to marry the girl next door, Elaine Harper. Teddy Brewster believes he is President Teddy Roosevelt and has been digging “channels for the Panama Canal” in the basement of the family home that turn into the graves for his aunt’s victims. And then there’s Jonathan Brewster, a sociopath, who has had plastic surgery to conceal his identity and needs to convince his aunts that it is truly him.
The Brooklyn Police begin to investigate, but will they solve the case of the missing men and unravel the secrets of the Brewster family?
Find out the answers in Conant Drama’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace”, written by playwright Joseph Kesselring in 1939, this weekend in what will provide a mixture of murderous intrigue, pure insanity and dark humor that is sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
For junior Evan Bailey, playing Jonathan Brewster has forced him to perfect a wide range of emotions. At one moment, Jonathan is calm and articulate and at another, he’s looking to fulfill his murderous tendencies.
“There’s a lot of manipulation in the show with him,” Bailey said. “I love the challenge because at times I’m crawling on the walls kind of mad.”
Director Karie Swift chose the play based off of what she had for on stage talent. With more females to fill roles, she liked the idea of two female lead characters and even adapted the script to have the three Brooklyn police officers played by females.
“A lot of high schools are in the same boat with more females,” Swift said. “And it’s hard to find plays that have a lot of parts for females.”
It was a play her mom and grandmother liked so she was familiar with the story and was drawn to the complexity of the family.
“Anyone who is a Brewster is insane,” Swift said.
Swift, who is a member of the music department faculty, will even fill the role of Dr. Einstein after one of the cast members had to drop out of the production about two weeks before opening night. Canceling the show was never an option and with the students set in their roles, Swift decided to take on the added work to make sure the show went off as planned.
“This is a first for me,” Swift said. “But it’s kind of fun to put yourself in a student’s shoes.”
The set for “Arsenic and Old Lace” is the Brewster family living room and was put together by the building program students at Conant. It’s simple with a table and chairs, doors to the kitchen, the street and the basement. There is even a staircase leading to a second story bedroom.
“And there’s a joke every couple minutes so it’s a really fun show,” Swift said.
Junior Lauren Luhtjarv fills the role of Martha Brewster and is the lone lead returning this year. While she didn’t know much about the play, Luhtjarv read for the role of Martha and has enjoyed the process of playing a soft spoken, murderous crazy person.
“At first it seems that we’re very sweet,” Luhtjarv said.
From the first table read, Luhtjarv was drawn to the character and in addition to all her lines, the process has been about her reactions to what’s going on around her that has been the biggest challenge. She’s joined by Abby Hampson as Abby Brewster.
“You can memorize all the lines you want, but it’s the emotions that make the scene,” Luhtjarv said.
Jaedin Bryan has been acting since she was four, but as one of the youngest cast members as a seventh grader at Jaffrey-Rindge Middle School, it’s just her second show with Conant Drama. Bryan plays the role of Officer O’Hara, who isn’t very good at her job and is more concerned about writing her play about being a Brooklyn police officer then actually being one.
“The first thing I heard (about the play) was murder, then I read the script and it’s really funny,” Bryan said.
The show also features Alannah Wanke-Brewer (Rev. Dr. Harper), Jared LeBlanc (Teddy Brewster), Alivia Martin (Officer Klein), Ella Weinmann (Officer Brophy), Allison Hocter (Elaine Harper), Jaykob Hagstrom (Mortimer Brewster), Sam Weinmann (Mr. Gibbs), Jennah Harvey (Lieutenant Rooney), and Ayden Laughton (Mr. Witherspoon).
There will be three performances of “Arsenic and Old Lace” in Pratt Auditorium at Conant High School. Opening night will be Friday at 7 p.m., with two showings on Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickers are $10 for the matinee performance ($7 for students and seniors) and $13 for the evening performances ($10 for students and seniors).
For tickets and more information, email conantdrama@sau47.org, leave a message at (603) 532-8131 ext. 245 or visit https://sites.google.com/sau47.org/conant-drama/home.