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Thirteen bodies are hidden in the cellar, but the killers are not shadowy strangers. In Herndon High School’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace, two seemingly gentle elderly women are responsible, creating a darkly funny clash between domestic comfort and casual murder.
Joseph Kesselring’s 1939 play follows Mortimer Brewster as he discovers just how unusual his relatives are. One brother believes he is Theodore Roosevelt. Another returns after years away with a new face and the police on his trail. Then Mortimer learns that his beloved aunts have been poisoning lonely older men.
The revelations leave Mortimer scrambling to protect his aunts, drive away his criminal brother and decide whether his fiancée should become part of such a dangerous family.
The cast brought the eccentric characters to life through carefully developed voices, crisp diction and strong projection. Frail, wavering speech reinforced the aunts’ advanced age, while the police officers adopted pronounced Brooklyn accents. Mortimer and his sinister brother, Jonathan, shared polished transatlantic accents that suited the period and subtly connected the estranged siblings.
Cara Ethington and Ember Howard played Abby and Martha Brewster as affectionate sisters whose warmth made their deadly pastime even more absurd. Their hunched shoulders, shuffling steps and other controlled movements convincingly suggested old age. Smoothly shared dialogue and a tendency to cling to one another made the aunts appear almost inseparable.
Ryan Hertel gave Jonathan a menacing presence through slow, deliberate movement. Luca Aten countered that restraint with a frantic portrayal of Mortimer, repeatedly bursting into motion as the character’s panic mounted.
As Jonathan’s accomplice, the intoxicated plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein, Finnegan Cloney added natural ad-libs and maintained the comedy with a drunken but enthusiastic stride.
The technical crews made Abby and Martha’s home feel warm, welcoming and quietly ominous. Carson Brownlee, Mubeen Ahmad, Trevor Freeman and Serena Indrisano created a two-level box set featuring stained hardwood railings and patterned wallpaper that evoked a 1940s home.
Props by Avy Aubouin, Ian Wright, Rubina Dhungel and Joelle Dykstra filled the hutches and shelves with a pleasantly cluttered assortment of objects. A skull resting on an otherwise charming bookshelf offered a subtle warning about what was happening beneath the cozy surface.
Warm lighting led by Ace Lamoureux strengthened the inviting atmosphere. The hair and makeup team, led by Kieran McCartney, produced convincing aging effects for the aunts and rendered Jonathan’s failed plastic surgery with scar-wax wounds and staples.
Herndon High’s cast and crew successfully turned a loving family home into the setting for an energetic black comedy. In this production, the greatest threats arrived not from strangers, but with affection, doilies and homemade elderberry wine.