Against the Odds, Just a Terrific Show

It’s a wonder that “Arsenic and Old Lace” ever gets produced. Yes, it’s a classic. Yes, it’s hysterically funny. But before a director can even start casting, he or she must be certain of finding an actor who resembles Theodore Roosevelt and another who is well over six feet tall.

The talent pool in rural Connecticut is nowhere near as large as those in, say, New York or Los Angeles or London, but for his production at the Sherman Playhouse, director Robin Frome managed to fill both roles. And better still, they’re both good.

The next casting headache is finding two older actresses winning enough to gain the audience’s affection and support while portraying serial killers. Frome found them, and they’re fantastic.

It’s the 1940s, and spinster sisters Abby and Martha Brewster share their home with their brother, Teddy, who believes he is President Roosevelt. In some ways, Teddy is the sanest of the three. Patricia Michael (Abby), Katherine Almquist (Martha), and David Bailey (Teddy) turn in top-notch performances. They are funny, charming, sympathetic, and completely bonkers.

The sisters’ unfortunate hobby comes to the attention of their nephew, Mortimer, who now must keep his fiancée, Elaine, from finding out. Steve Manzino, despite a distracting resemblance to television actor Zeljko Ivanek, delights as Mortimer, and Lucy Shea’s Elaine seems to have stepped right out of a 1940s RKO motion picture. (If only playwright Joseph Kesselring had given her more to do in the second act!)

In the midst of this mess, Mortimer’s long-lost brother, Jonathan, shows up — he’s a gangster who’s had his face surgically altered to resemble Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein monster (hence the tall actor). He’s travelling with German-born Dr. Einstein (no, not that one). And throughout it all, police officers and dead bodies pass through the house as if it had a revolving door.

The play isn’t perfect. The exposition at the beginning is clumsy, and there are a lot of dated jokes that should have been cut. (“Take off those dresses; you look like Judith Anderson!” Umm … OK.) But once it gets rolling, the script is comedy gold.

The production isn’t perfect, either. One or two of the supporting actors are weak, and some good jokes whizz by unnoticed. But led by the wonderful triumvirate of Michael, Almquist and Bailey, and buoyed by Manzino and Shea, “Arsenic and Old Lace” is well worth seeking out.

“Arsenic and Old Lace” runs at the Sherman Playhouse through Aug. 2. For tickets and information, go to www.shermanplayers.org or telephone 860-354-3622.