The New Deal Creative Arts Center is pleased to present Arsenic & Old Lace in the fall of 2022 under the direction of Joseph Gasparini.

THE STORY:
Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police—not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage—it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.

THE CHARACTERS:
Abby Brewster: A darling lady in her sixties who poisons elderly men. Abby is the sister of Martha and an aunt to Teddy, Jonathan, and Mortimer.

The Rev. Dr. Harper: Minister and father of Elaine

Teddy Brewster: Nephew of Abby and Martha Brewster, Teddy is a man in his forties who thinks that he is Theodore Roosevelt.

Officer Brophy: A police officer

Officer Klein: A police officer

Martha Brewster: A sweet elderly woman with Victorian charm who poisons elderly men, Martha is the sister of Abby and an aunt to Teddy, Jonathan, and Mortimer.

Elaine Harper: An attractive girl in her twenties and Mortimer’s fiancé, Elaine is the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Harper. She is surprisingly wise in the ways of the world for a minister’s daughter.

Mortimer Brewster: Nephew of Abby and Martha, Mortimer is a drama critic who is engaged to Elaine. He is a nice man who cares for his aunts.

Mr. Gibbs: A man who wishes to rent a room from the Brewster sisters

Jonathan Brewster: Nephew of Abby and Martha Brewster, Jonathan is a psychopath who has had plastic surgery and now looks like Boris Karloff.

Dr. Einstein: A plastic surgeon with thick German accent in his fifties, Dr. Einstein has changed Jonathan’s face three times.

Officer O’Hara: A police officer, O’Hara is a would-be playwright who pesters Mortimer to read his play.

Lieutenant Rooney: A tough and dominating police officer

Mr. Witherspoon: The superintendent of Happy Dale Sanitarium

AUDITION INFORMATION:
Please prepare a one-minute (or less) monologue in accordance with the character for which you would like to audition.
Sides from the show will be provided at the audition.
Please bring theatre resume, headshot (if available), and scheduling conflicts between late August through October.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION:
October 21-30, 2022 at Oakwood Friends School Theatre in Poughkeepsie
Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm
Sundays at 2pm

Auditions and rehearsals will take place at The New Deal Creative Arts Center located at 4408 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park.

For more information, please contact Joe Gasparini (director) at joseph@newdealarts.org

New Deal is not currently accepting any play/new work submissions at this time.

Please check back again soon or contact New Deal’s Director of New Work Development, Louisa Vilardi, at louisa@newdealarts.org