Elderberry Wine Laced Laughter with Sunset’s Arsenic and Old Lace

In the wide world of theatre, there are certain titles that stand the test of time—
Kaufman and Hart’s The Man Who Came to Dinner or Simon’s Barefoot In the
Park come immediately to mind. In Elm Grove, Wisconsin, Sunset Playhouse’s
season opener, Arsenic and Old Lace, is yet another timeless comedy of madcap
misbehavior. 

The play takes us to 1940’s Brooklyn, to the Brewster household, where eccentric elderly sisters, Abby and Martha (Marilyn White and Kaye Esposito), are known throughout the borough as generous and benevolent old biddies, who open their home to older lodgers without family or a home of their own. The
quirky sisters are mother figures to their three nephews: Teddy (Cory Klein), who believes he is President Teddy Roosevelt, Jonathan (Nicholas Callan Haubner), the black sheep who has been away for twenty years and known to be a nefarious criminal, and Mortimer (Brandon C. Haut), the drama critic who believes inherited madness is the culprit behind his inability to settle down and get married. 

Soon, Mortimer discovers that his aunts are something more than ecclectic. Indeed, they have been poisoning their lodgers with arsenic-laced elderberry wine, considering themselves charitable for ending the loneliness and suffering of the men who sought lodging in their home. Meanwhile, Jonathan has returned home, and not without his own secrets as well. Mortimer is then tasked with keeping the household chaos contained, and examining if craziness is a matter of nature or nurture.

Director Michael “Paco” Pocaro has extracted some truly great moments from his cast of established Sunset Playhouse and Milwaukee performers. Some of the best moments occur between Nicholas Callan Haubner as the psychotic Jonathan and Jim Donaldson as his bedraggled, yet faithful assistant, Dr. Einstein. Haubner and Donaldson are in perfect sync and pull energy from each other on stage. Haubner, as the imposing and deliberate sociopath, masters the rage that constantly wants to boil over. He changes tactics on a dime, going from menacing to lovingly manipulative without missing a beat. 

Donaldson is a master of comedy, and the perfect loyal sidekick to Haubner. With an animated obsequiousness, Donaldson delivers some of the production’s most hilarious moments. His exit received notable applause from the audience. Another standout performance includes Sunset favorite Cory Klein, who brings a childlike excitement to the brother who believes he’s Teddy Roosevelt. Between his bombastic “charges” and quite accurate bugle blowing, Klein is a scene stealer in this production. 

The pacing of the production is uneven and lacks precision in moments of comedy that end up being lost. Scenes with exposition can be the hardest to navigate, and some of the actors seemed to struggle to find their intention while searching for their lines. Scenes between Mortimer and his love interest, Elaine (a very witty and enjoyable Sarah Briana Monahan) struggled to find the flirtation and lightness that these two characters feel for each other. Characters including Reverend Harper and Detective Rooney (Robert Hirschi) lack definable traits and the inattention to detail ring clear in other actors’ performances. These moments however do not outweigh the pure delight that Saturday’s audience felt, as laughs were constant throughout the two and a half hour production, which ended with a standing ovation.

Sunset Playhouse is known for the quality of it’s productions’s sets, and Katie “KJ” Johnson’s design lives up to expectations, capturing the off and eerie quality of the Brewster household, effectively constructing a two storied set that allowed the actors to play effectively. Lighting by Martin Yates sets a distinctive moody atmosphere where actors hide in shadows, move bodies in and out of a window seat, and charge up and down the staricase. While moments prove the production to be slightly uneven, this production of Arsenic and Old Lace left Saturday night’s audience with many good laughs and provides a very enjoyable
evening of theater.