Do you long for a simpler time? A time when things weren’t so complicated? A time, perhaps, when simpler virtues— things like candlelight, good manners, and poisoned wine were on offer in every Old Spinster household? Vagabond Players has got just the show for you, my friends, but whatever you do— DO NOT DRINK THE WINE! That tried and true comedic classic, Arsenic and Old Lace, written by Joseph Kesselring, is now appearing at Vags under the direction of Katie Sheldon and it’s a doozy! You’ll laugh so hard you’ll cry. A proper comedy with ripe dramatic irony, farcical components, and just enough of a dramaturgical facelift that you’ll feel like you’re laying new eyes on this timeless chestnut.
Scenically, the set is glorious. Designer Ryan Geiger has crafted the most detailed set of the season into the intimate venue and it simply shrieks 1941 Brooklyn spinster-castle. The wallpaper, being that garish floral print, along with its chair-railing, baseboards, and moulding prime the audience for the show’s time stamp. Add in the carefully layered construct of the play-space itself, where Geiger has strategically placed doors and staircases (that actually appear to have realistic depth to them, engaging the audience to believe that various characters are going…or charging…upstairs) in balance with one another to fabricate a realistic home interior structure into existence and you’ve got an impressive scenic display. The attention to detail in both the furnishings and their strategic placement are a twofold tactic that enhances the comedic play once the characters get their antics in motion and services the show’s setting with accuracy and tact.
With gentle illumination, and lighting effects that really keep some of those cheeky, suspenseful moments lively, Lighting (and Sound) Designer Brad Ranno keeps things simple yet not unappreciated. The use of the three-tong candelabra (complete with inexpensive matches) to create atmosphere, as well as the way Ranno backlights both the cellar and the upstairs for various moments is a realistic showcase of his talent and understanding of how to make a homey interior read authentically to the audience. The 1940’s music to gently shuffle those scenic changes along (which are done in full darkness and mad shoutout to Stage Manager Lauren Sayles and anyone assisting her on crew) is an added boon to those watching the comedic experience.
Donning the cap of the show’s costume designer, Director Katie Sheldon puts everyone in pristine attire for the time period. The Aunts start off in dowdy, bordering on frumpy yet still classy, spinster dresses, but it’s their mourning gear that takes the cake, complete with hats and a liberal splash of that titular old lace! You won’t often catch Teddy without some sort of bully-brown or golden mustard jacket, aiding that glorious bristly mustache to give him that striking likeness to our 26th president. The suits for the gents are of the era, giving Mortimer that clean-pressed yet slightly distressed look of someone who works for a newspaper, and Jonathan the mark of a ne’er-do-well who’s run afoul of the law. The show’s sartorial selection isn’t overly complicated, but rather the perfect compliment to the set and the matching accessory to each of the characters’ zany personalities.
As the show’s director, Sheldon keeps the pacing pristine. This comedy could easily hang itself if scenes were slower or there were too many pauses layered into the delivery but none of that ever becomes an issues under Sheldon’s keen eye. Her understanding of the script (in addition to her dramaturgical research to update references to those with more recognizable weight whilst simultaneously staying accurate to the show’s time-stamp) is impressive and her capability to parlay the importance of comedic timing and overall active pacing is remarkable. You get nuanced deliveries, exacting timing both in high-humor moments and in those more intellectually funny scenes. Sheldon strikes a balance between the sincerity of the show’s comedy and the campier nature which some of the characters lean into wholeheartedly, making for an exceptional production of this hysterical play.
Sheldon has done a spectacular job of hand-selecting her cast of 14. Even the ten-second cameo characters feel like stars in this production. Mr. Witherspoon (Colin Davies), Mr. Gibbs (Tim Van Sant), and The Rev. Dr. Harper (Chris West) who have but moments on stage in their respective appearances, are fully present, delightfully humorous, and only serve to add to the achievable laughs contained within this classic comedy. Van Sant, who arguably has the least stage time of the aforementioned three (though not for lack of presence or talent) gets the audience all riled up with his character’s simple delivery and ultimate disappearance, right back out the door once Mortimer starts shunting him out of harm’s way. Davies, as Witherspoon— only appearing at the conclusion of the performance— has a genteel charm about his character that gives you an extra smack of comedy in the play’s final lines and gestures, and West’s Rev. Dr. Harper holds his own conversationally against Abby for his solo scene. While it occasionally practiced to have these male roles tripled or doubled by one or two actors, Sheldon’s choice to cast three separate actors adds a refreshing versatility to the production as a whole.
While there aren’t any proper ‘keystone cop’ chases in this one, Andrew Syropoulos as Officer Brophy and Adam Abruzzo as Officer Klein certainly gives you some chucklesome entertainment whenever they arrive on the scene. Both Abruzzo and Syropoulos have a firm handle on their Brooklyn beat accents, and when they start crashing into one another, it’s great fun. Add into that the scene-stealing, scenery-chewing, audience-cheating, spastically-over-the-top portrayal of Officer O’Hara by Sydney Marks and you’ve got uproarious good times which will tickle your funny bone indefinitely. Marks is in a category all her own with that ripe Brooklyn accent and she’s got the audience in stitches with her antics. There’s one scene in particular where she’s back-crawling across the floor— couldn’t even tell you what’s actually happening on stage because she’s so hysterical with her shenanigans in that moment— and you’ll bust a gut if you try not laughing at her. You top off that trifecta of nonsense-cop-chaos with the infamous John Dignam working the heck out of Lieutenant Rooney character and you’re in for one heck of a good time— and these are just tertiary support-style characters! Dignam, who makes an entrance like Olivier (and gets the recognition for it too) has a handful of zinging one-liners with that sarcastic bite at the back of his delivery that’s just truly the bees’ knees. Abruzzo, Syropoulos, Marks, and Dignam could easily take their four-person cop capers on the road as its own show and would be a comedic sellout every night, especially if Marks is headlining with her over-the-top theatrical silliness.
In a dewy-eyed category all her own, because aside from the doddering spinster sisters, there’s only one role written for a woman in this show, poor Elaine Harper (Audrey Brooks) is just a syrupy simpleton, that darling gooey-eyed gal in love with— heaven’s to Betsy of all things— a theatre critic! Brooks manages to take this static and often dismissible love-interest character and give her a vivacity that rivals some of the aforementioned cop shenanigans. Brooks gives rougher edges to scenes that could be readily delivered as whimpering and whiny, almost creating a cheeky nod to modern agency (that so few female characters of the time get) whilst still staying mindfully aware of the show’s time stamp. She engages fully with Mortimer and their chemistry has a volatility to it that fits the bill for this madcap comedy, particularly when she’s telling him off.
Thomas Peter, as Dr. Einstein, is giving nervous-nelly energy from his initial appearance. While the character is more subtle, slightly more nuanced in his existence within the confines of the script’s reality, Peter ensures that the audience receives a great many laugh-worthy moments from his portrayal. There’s a perpetual nervousness about him; the panicked facial expressions, augmented by the way he physically shies away from Jonathan (and honestly with the imposing and astutely threatening aura that Judah-Isaac Canizares brings to the character, who wouldn’t be shrinking from him?) it all bundles itself up into this vibrating ball of anxious unease that’s just enjoyable to watch. Peter’s German accent is also pretty consistent (props to Katie Sheldon and whoever else, uncredited, assisted with the dialect coaching in this production because the 1940’s patois and cadence, in addition to the Brooklyn and German accents are doing their thing divinely) and the way he physically slinks out of his final scene is hilarious.
As the previously mentioned Jonathan Brewster, Judah-Isaac Canizares is a force and a presence to be reckoned with. While the facial prosthetics have that slightly ‘unfinished look’ about them— and we can chalk that up to Dr. Einstein’s drunken debauched surgical attempts because if that (and the lighting-cue mishap that those actors barreled through without missing a beat) are the only two complaints to be had about a production, then said production is winning gold in the theatrical Olympics for sure— Canizares is bringing that intimidating monster character to vivacious and unsettling life. The deliberately slow and meticulous way he speaks, the careful, methodical way he folds his hands or chooses to take a seat, blended with the perpetual scowl plastered upon his face makes for a wild portrayal of Jonathan. In fact, there’s one moment when Canizares’ character cracks into hysterics, full on laugh and smile combo, and it has the audience in stitches because he’s been so forcibly reserved and menacing up unto that point. Watch his facial expressions every time someone mentions Boris Karloff; it’s to die for!
In an utterly unbreakable, indescribable four-way tie of who’s wining the show the most it all comes down to the four featured Brewsters— Abby (Melissa Banister) and Martha (Andrea Myles-Hunkin), Teddy (Stephen M. Deininger) and Mortimer (Adrian Bagarić.) This quartet of theatrical perfection has a mastery in comedic timing, a practical doctoral in physically expressive body language, and a whole lot of hilarity to offer the audience every step of the journey through this zany, uproarious, madcap monstrosity of a truly cherished comedy.
Deininger earns himself thunderous applause every time he charges up— San Juan Stairs. And oh my lord can that man commit to the bit. There’s even a scene where he’s two steps up the stairs (which L-angle stage right off to the backstage), starts to prepare for his battle charge, pauses, thinks about it, steps back down to the main stage, gets his footing, and goes full-on up the stairs with his CHARGE! It’s side-splitting humor at his finest. Deininger has such a formalized rigidity in his overall physicality that you’d almost swear Sheldon and the production team dipped into Disney’s Hall of Presidents and stole the animatronic from within! Everything from his bombastic barking addresses to— well, any and every other character in the show— to the way he all but explodes with giddy glee when he thinks he’s going to Africa on safari, you won’t be able to get enough of the pure comedic genius that is Stephen Deininger’s performance as Teddy Brewster. Words could never hope to do it justice!
Delightfully doltish Abby (Banister) and the more grim and discerning Martha (Myles-Hunkin) are this perfect pair of sisters. Think Betty and Judy Haynes took hard quaffs from Granny Addams’ acremonium and BAM— The Brewster Sisters. Their sororal chemistry is a sheer delight. And the way they play off one another, particularly when in huddle-speak at each other, is a scream. Banister has this indefatigable chipperness about her character, gaily drifting through the events of the play, which is the perfect juxtaposition to Myles-Hunkin’s more acerbic take on things. The pair of them have the sharpest of understandings when it comes to precision and comedic timing, particularly with their line deliveries. Myles-Hunkin has facial expressions that are indescribably hysterical, particularly when she’s having a fit over something. Watching the pair of them sit in the chairs, being scolded by Mortimer for their gravely serious misdeeds is a riot; especially as both their faces and bodily postures look like they’re being chastised for stealing cookies from the cookie jar before supper rather than the actual horrendous thing he’s berating them for! Their shared glee for their…hobby…is palpable and the way they both dote on Teddy is simply delightful. This pair of comic crackups is the cure-all for what ails you as they will keep you in stitches (better than ditches!) for the better part of two and a half hours’ stage traffic.
If you ever hoped to catch the live-action mannerisms, body language, and facial expressions of Jimmy Stewart engaging in high-farce stage comedy, Adrian Bagarić as Mortimer Brewster is your chance in this production of Arsenic and Old Lace. While he’s got his own gorgeous voice, in flawless 1940’s cadence and patois in his textual delivery, you can see hints of that Jimmy Stewart style expressiveness in everything else he does. His facial features are as wildly animated as the plot twists and turns of this script! He’s priceless, hands down. And the explosive energy with which he imbues Mortimer is a powder-keg charge for the entirety of the on-stage energy that’s flowing nonstop through each and every other character throughout the performance. In addition to being physically engaging, his comedic delivery of lines is aces, bar-none. That final line as he’s making his exit with Elaine is the epitome of precision timing. And his ability to farcically engage with doors, quick entrances and exits, furniture and other actors is outstanding. Watching Bagarić decompose in that scene where he’s catching wise to what’s actually happening is hysterical. Watching him recompose as he think his character has finally gained a handle on the situation is equally hilarious. He’s flawlessly present, wholly invested in the chaotic truth of the character, which allows the humor to resonate profoundly in this organic and natural fashion, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more engaging performer for this role.
Don’t lose your head when you make up your mind to get tickets to see Arsenic and Old Lace at Vagabond Players, but you better run— better yet— gallop— on over to see all the madness that is zipping through the Brewster family before this brilliant production gets locked away for good in the middle of next month!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Arsenic and Old Lace plays through March 15th 2026 at Vagabond Players— located in the heart of Fells Point: 806 S. Broadway in Baltimore, MD. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (410) 563-9135 in advance online.
