With Arts & Entertainment Editor Kathy L. Collins
The Village Players will kick off their 2018 season with a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, a black comedy. The play will be presented this February at the historic James McCabe Theatre located at 506 5th St. in Valrico. Gail Pierce, a Producer with the Village Players said, “This is a great show to kick off a fantastic season.”
Arsenic and Old Lace will be presented over a three-weekend period beginning on Friday, February 9 at 8 p.m. followed with Saturday, February 10 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, February 11 at 3 p.m. Shows will also be presented on Friday, February 16 and 23, Saturday, February 17 and 24 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 18 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $18 for general admission and $15 for Seniors, students, military with ID and groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased online at www.villageplayersvalrico or by calling Chris at 480-3147.
Arsenic and Old Lace is directed by Hal Granholm who said, “I first saw the 1966 film version and fell in love with it. I always wanted to direct this play. It has great comic timing and it is fun to watch.”
Arsenic and Old Lace was written by American playwright, Joseph Kesserling in 1939. The play is a farcical black comedy revolving around the Brewster family who are descendants of the Mayflower but are now composed of homicidal maniacs. The family is led by Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic. Mortimer must deal not only with his crazy family, but also with the local police.
His family includes two spinster aunts who have taken to 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. There is a brother who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt and digs locks for the Panama Canal in the cellar of the Brewster home. These serve as graves for the aunts’ victims.
The Village Players’ production of Arsenic and Old Lace is certain to be a fun evening out for everyone who loves a well written, superbly acted play. For more information, please visit www.villageplayersvalrico.com.
