Arsenic and Old Lace Auditions

Actors will be asked to read sides from the script.

First Rehearsal: Monday, November 16, 2026 at 6pm

Rehearsals: Mon-Thr from 6p-9p and Saturdays from 10a-2p

Tech: Saturday and Sunday, January 16 and 17th

Opening and Run: Thursday – Saturday, January 21-23 at 7pm, Sunday, January 24th at 2pm, close and strike

Arsenic and Old Lace

Two sweet elderly aunts have a rather dark hobby of poisoning lonely old men. This beloved comedy follows their frantic nephew as he tries to keep the family secret from unraveling.

Synopsis:

Set in Brooklyn, NY in the late 1940s, the elderly Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha, live in their family home along with their nephew, Teddy (who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt). They rent a room to single, older gentlemen and discover many of their boarders are lonely. To alleviate their suffering, the sisters poison them with elderberry wine laced with arsenic. With Teddy’s help, they bury the bodies in the cellar.

The sisters’ antics are discovered by their nephew, Mortimer, a recently engaged theatre critic who brings his fiancé, Elaine (who also happens to be Reverend Harper’s daughter), to meet his beloved aunts. Mortimer’s brother Jonathan (a recent escapee of the prison for the criminally insane) shows up, along with his side-kick Dr. Einstein. They intend to use the aunts’ house as a place where other escapees can have their faces altered by the good doctor.

Jonathan and Dr. Einstein inform the sisters that they will be moving into the house to set up shop. The sisters go off to bed and we discover that Jonathan and Dr. Einstein have a dead body of their own. They decide to bury it in the cellar. When Elaine shows up to see who is in the house, Jonathan threatens her. Just in time, Mortimer returns and saves her. He explains he must call off the wedding because every Brewster is insane and he can’t risk passing it along. She leaves angry, hurt and confused.

As Mortimer is trying to get Jonathan and Dr. Einstein, along with the dead Mr. Spenalzo, Lt. O’Hara shows up. He learns Mortimer is a theatre critic. O’Hara, a budding playwright, insists on telling him the plot of his play. Though Mortimer is willing to let Jonathan and Dr. Einstein escape, Jonathan decides it’s time the brothers settled their differences and refuses to leave. Mortimer threatens to turn Jonathan in to Lt. O’Hara when Jonathan surprises him with the knowledge that there is a dead body in the cellar.

Mortimer manages to lure O’Hara out of the house and while he’s gone, Jonathan and Dr. Einstein find out about the “charity” that the sisters have been running and they tell them there is no more room in the cellar for Mr. Spenalzo and all of their gentlemen.

Later that evening, the sisters are trying to hold a funeral service for their latest gentlemen while Jonathan and Dr. Einstein are burying Mr. Spenalzo, angering Abby and Martha. Mortimer, who has slipped out, returns with papers signed to admit Teddy to Happy Dale Sanitorium, telling the authorities that Teddy is responsible for the bodies. The sisters say they’ll call the police themselves if Mortimer can get Jonathan and Dr. Einstein out of the house. He promises and they go off to bed.

Jonathan manages to trap Mortimer and ties him to a chair, planning to kill him. Before they can do the deed, Teddy blows his bugle, sending Lt. O’Hara running in to quiet him as it’s the middle of the night. Jonathan explains that Mortimer was describing the play he saw that night and in acting it out, got tied up. Excited, Lt. O’Hara decides it’s the perfect time to tell them all the plot of his play. Hours pass and the two officers from earlier rush in. Lt. O’Hara hasn’t checked in and they were sent to check on him. After Jonathan tells the police that the little old ladies have a dozen bodies buried in the cellar, one of the police mention Jonathan resembles Boris Karloff causing Jonathan to attack him. They knock him out and then realize he’s a wanted criminal, dismissing that there are actually any bodies in the cellar.

Teddy is sent to Happy Dale, a sanitorium and Mortimer and Elaine are off to get married. The sisters are set to also go to Happy Dale but the recently widowed head of the sanitorium stops by – for a delicious glass of elderberry wine, as the curtain falls.

Abby Brewster – A darling older woman in her late sixties.

The Reverend Dr. Harper – 50s-60s. Elaine’s father and paster of the local church, the rectory of which is next door to the sisters’ home.

Teddy Brewster – Abby and Martha’s nephew. 40s. His manner and makeup suggests he believes he is Theodore Roosevelt.

Officer Brophy – 30s-50s. One of two policemen. Simple, honest – loves the Brewster sisters.

Officer Klein – 30s-50s. Similar to Brophy.

Martha Brewster – Also a sweet, elderly woman with Victorian charm. She is dressed in the old-fashioned manner of Abby but with a high lace collar that covers her neck.

Elaine Harper – An attractive girl in her 20s; engaged to Mortimer. A proper girl but not the typical daughter of a Reverend.

Mortimer Brewster – Early-mid 30s. Good looking, calm and capable. Drama critic who hates plays. Aspiring novelist. Nephew to the sisters.

Mr. Gibbs – Elderly gentlemen. Small role. Could double as Mr. Spenalzo.

Jonathan Brewster – Teddy’s brother, nephew to the sisters. Sinister, evil. Bears a resemblance to Boris Karloff.

Dr. Einstein – Jonathan’s sidekick and doctor who performs surgery to transform the faces of criminals. He did Jonathan’s but now Jonathan resembles Boris Karloff. German accent. Timid, nervous. Drinker.

Officer O’Hara – Irish dialect, if possible. Budding playwright.

Lieutenant Rooney -

Mr. Witherspoon -

Mr. Spenalzo – A dead body.