Arsenic and Old Lace

“Insanity runs in my family…it practically gallops”.

Set in 1940s Brooklyn, Arsenic and Old Lace paints the portrait of the two elderly Brewster sisters who drink tea, gossip, knit…and poison lonely old gentlemen who turn up at their door. As their nephew Mortimer seeks to place the blame for the pile of bodies on his insane brother Teddy, a third homicidal brother Jonathan turns up with his plastic surgeon-cum-alcoholic sidekick Dr Einstein. As the body count grows in equal proportion to the hilarity and shocking wickedness, the Brewster family reveal insanity lurking in every corner.

Kesselring’s most famous work opened on Broadway in 1941 and was described by the New York Times as “so funny that none of us will ever forget it”. A highly successful film version with Cary Grant followed swiftly in 1944. With its unique combination of sitting-room set-piece elegance, razor-sharp humour and alarming depravity it is no wonder that this play has retained its relevance, regularly undergoing revivals on Broadway and in the West End.

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Rebecca Cusack and Dan Edwards
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Colin Rothwell
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Colin Rothwell, Rebecca Cusack and Max Campbell
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Jasmin Rees and Rebecca Cusack
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Jasmin Rees, Gabrielle McGuinness and Rebecca Cusack
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Rebecca Cusack and Gabrielle McGuinness
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Aurelien Gueroult and Gabrielle McGuinness
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Rebecca Cusack and Aurelien Gueroult
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Aurelien Gueroult, Jasmin Rees and Rebecca Cusack
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Rebecca Cusack and Aurelien Gueroult
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Rebecca Cusack, Jonny Oldfield and Jasmin Rees
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Rebecca Cusack, Aurelien Gueroult and Jasmin Rees
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Jasmin Rees, Rebecca Cusack and Henry Wilkinson
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Jasmin Rees, Jerome Burelbach and Rebecca Cusack
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Henry Wilkinson and Jerome Burelbach
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Colin Rothwell, Jasmin Rees and Rebecca Cusack
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Jerome Burelbach and Gabrielle McGuinness
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Henry Wilkinson, Jerome Burelbach, Aurelien Gueroult and Gabrielle McGuinness
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Aurelien Gueroult, Jasmin Rees, Gabrielle McGuinness and Rebecca Cusack
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Aurelien Gueroult, Jasmin Rees and Gabrielle McGuiness
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Gabrielle McGuinness and Aurelien Gueroult
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Jerome Burelbach, Jasmin Rees, Joe Shalom, Aurelien Gueroult and Rebecca Cusack
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Joe Shalom
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Aurelien Gueroult and Joe Shalom
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Aurelien Gueroult and Jerome Burelbach
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Jerome Burelbach and Aurelien Gueroult
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Henry Wilkinson, Aurelien Gueroult and Jerome Burelbach
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Aurelien, Joe Shalom, Jerome Burelbach and Henry Wilkinson
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Tom Ingham, Aurelien Gueroult and Louisa Keight
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Tom Ingham, Joe Shalom and Jerome Burelbach
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Saskia Ross and Jerome Burelbach
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Jasmin Rees, Mark Bittlestone, Henry Wilkinson, Aurelien Gueroult, and Rebecca Cusack
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Jasmin Rees, Mark Bittlestone, Aurelien Gueroult and Rebecca Cusack
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Tom Ingham, Jerome Burelbach and Louisa Keight
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Jasmin Rees, Mark Bittlestone and Rebecca Cusack
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(Top row): Henry Wilkinson, Joe Shalom, Jerome Burelbach, Gabrielle McGuinness, Colin Rothwell, Saskia Ross, Tom Ingham, Louisa Keight, Aurelien Gueroult, Jonny Oldfield (Bottom row): Rebecca Cusack, Mark Bittlestone, Jasmin Rees
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(Top row): Henry Wilkinson, Joe Shalom, Jerome Burelbach, Gabrielle McGuinness, Colin Rothwell, Saskia Ross, Tom Ingham, Louisa Keight, Aurelien Gueroult, Jonny Oldfield (Bottom row): Rebecca Cusack, Mark Bittlestone, Jasmin Rees

Reviews: Varsity (4.5/5), The Tab (4.5/5), TCS (9/10)

Cast
Abby Brewster – Rebecca Cusack
Martha Brewster – Jasmin Rees
Mortimer Brewster – Aurélien Guéroult
Teddy Brewster – Colin Rothwell
Elaine Harper – Gabrielle McGuinness
Jonathan Brewster – Jerome Burelbach
Dr Einstein – Henry Wilkinson
Dr Harper – Max Campbell
O’Hara – Joe Shalom
Klein – Tom Ingham
Brophy – Louisa Keight
Mr Gibbs – Jonny Oldfield
Mr Witherspoon – Mark Bittlestone
Lieutenant Rooney – Saskia Ross

Production Team
Director – Mark Bittlestone
Producer – Joseph Spencer
Technical Director – Jacob Baldwin
Assistant Producer – Eddie Spence
Assistant Director – Dan Edwards
Publicity Designer – Rory White
Associate Director – Haydn Jenkins
Assistant Stage Manager – Susannah Williams
Stage Manager – Emer O’Hanlon
Assistant Stage Manager – Eva O’Flynn
Set Designer & Builder – Siyang Wei
Photographer – Simon Lock
Make-Up – Dolores Carbonari
Trailer videographer – Emmy Ravenshaw, Olivia Brogan
Rehearsal Photographer – Johannes Hjorth

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