Arsenic and Old Lace

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CAST (By Appearance)   
Maggie Hutton '08………………………………………...ABBY BREWSTER  
Nick Morgan '08…………………………………….THE REV. DR. HARPER
Charlie Fraker '08………………………………………..TEDDY BREWSTER
Sam McGoldrick '09………………………………………OFFICER BROPHY
Bob Vulfov '09………………………………………………OFFICER KLEIN
Shanika Audige '08……………………………………MARTHA BREWSTER
Maddy Bloch '08……………………………………………ELAINE HARPER
Max Jacobs '08……………………………………..MORTIMER BREWSTER
Matt Ale '08………………………………………………………..MR. GIBBS
Brendan Maaghul '08……………………………….JONATHAN BREWSTER
Ben Zucker '09…………………………………………………..DR. EINSTEIN
Tam Johnson '11..………………………………………………..MR HOSKINS
Nathaniel Breg '08…………………………………………..…MR. SPENALZO
Sam Fifer '11……………………………………………….OFFICER O’HARA
Nathaniel Breg '08……………………………………LIEUTENANT ROONEY
Will Sayre '09……………………………………………MR. WITHERSPOON

PRODUCTION STAFF
Director…………………………………………………………...…HELENA FIFER
Assistant Director…………………………………………….MADDY MARTIN '09
Stage Design…………………………………………………….…...IAN DIEDRICH
Set Construction……………………..........OLIVER DIEDRICH and EMILY DANN
Set Decoration and Props Rental…………………BRAVO THEATRICAL DESIGN
Sound Design…………………………………………………..KEITH KULKIN '09
Co-Designer and Master Electrician……………………………..SYDNEY LOW '09
Costume Outfitting…………………………………………………..MELISSA TRN
Program Art………………………………………………………….KATE SUTTON

SYNOPSIS OF SCENES
The entire action of the play takes place in the living room of
the Brewster home in Brooklyn.
Time: September 1941.

ACT I
An afternoon in September.

ACT II
The same night.

ACT III
Scene 1: Later that night.
Scene 2: Early the next morning.

There will be a brief intermission between Act II and III.

Special thanks to:
Yale Rep, Bruce Fifer, Deborah Bloch, Sarah Albee, Ann Leary.

Director’s Note

This fall, when I started considering plays for the winter, I contemplated doing another farce. Farces are not just challenging to direct and fun to act, they are also a safe choice; with their exaggerated characters and improbable situations they tend to be sure-fire crowd-pleasers. But I felt I owed it to my students to explore a different comic genre—so I chose this classic comedy.
I wanted to be as true to the period as I could, and thanks to our set designer and builder, Ian Diedrich, our costumer, Melissa Trn, and our prop master and set decorator, Ed Bassett, what you will see on stage is as close as we could come to authenticity. We have worked very hard to bring you this wonderful show, which although it has its farcical elements, maintains an old-fashioned dignity that most farces abandon early in the first act. For their determination, and their talent, I am truly grateful and impressed with my cast and crew.
In order to fully appreciate the classic qualities of Arsenic and Old Lace, consider the time and the place of this story. Set in Brooklyn, in the early fall of 1941, against a distant backdrop of very real events, the play introduces us to a different age and a simpler way of life. In the fall of 1941, FDR was president, Fiorello LaGuardia was mayor of New York, and the United States had not yet been drawn wholly into the Second World War. The attack on Pearl Harbor would not occur until December 7th.
New Yorkers looking for excitement and distraction found it in the theaters and late night jazz clubs of Manhattan. But right across the bridge was Brooklyn, with its small old-fashioned neighborhoods, where people still sat on their stoops exchanging pleasantries and gossip. Policemen on their beats strolled down the streets and greeted residents by name. Most important to the people of old-world Brooklyn were friendliness and decorum. As my grandmother used to say, they believed that “manners were the minimum of charity.”
This fictional story of Arsenic and Old Lace is at once a farcical comedy, a thriller, and a morality tale about two women who believe in the importance of good manners. It is immaterial to them that their charity involves poison; what matters is that each of their victims receives a warm welcome, a glass of their homemade elderberry wine, a Christian burial, and fresh flowers on his grave every Sunday. Now that is what I call good manners.

The Fritz C. Hyde Jr. Memorial Production

Fritz C. Hyde Jr. '29 loved the theater and went on to be head of Yale Dramat in 1933. The Fritz C. Hyde Jr. Memorial Production is made possible annually by the generous support of his friends and family.