By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ to open at MTG
MTG arsenic and lace 2
Phil Rath as Jonathan Brewster lies on the floor, surrounded by fellow actors, from left, Dave Sobeski as Lt. Rooney, Chris Sachs as Officer Klein and David Bristow as Officer Brophy, as the group rehearses for “Arsenic and Old Lace” recently with the Monroe Theatre Guild. Tickets are now on sale at the Monroe Theatre Guild website www.monroetheatre.com and at the Monroe Arts Center box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

MONROE — MTG is pleased to announce one of America’s most loved plays in its 2018 season of classics. “Arsenic and Old Lace” written by Joseph Kesselring and directed by Green County native Sam Schumacher, will be performed in the MTG theatre starting Oct. 5 through Oct. 14 with six performances over two weekends. 

Tickets for “Arsenic and Old Lace” are now on sale at the Monroe Theatre Guild website www.monroetheatre.com and at the Monroe Arts Center box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Performances in the MTG theatre at 910 16th Ave., Monroe are at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 and Oct. 6, and at 2 p.m. Oct. 7. The following weekend performances are at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 and Oct. 13, and at 2 p.m. Oct. 14. There will be an opening night reception at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 5 with free refreshments to celebrate the opening of MTG’s fourth show in their 2018 season.

MTG arsenic and lace 1
The Monroe Theatre Guild is busy rehearsing for their upcoming production “Arsenic and Old Lace” featuring Jeff Ditzenberger as Mr. Witherspoon, Laurie Knoke, playing Martha Brewster, and Susan Hardin as Abby Brewster.

The play originally opened on Broadway in January 1941 and ran for well over a thousand performances, a record for its time. 

The play tells the story of two charming spinsters, Abby and Martha Brewster, who live in the family’s Victorian mansion in Brooklyn, New York with their nephew who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt. Their other nephews, brothers to Teddy, have taken different paths in the world. Mortimer, the unexpected hero in the story, and a theater critic by night, suddenly realizes his real job is to keep his beloved aunts from going to prison. 

Mortimer unwittingly discovers just how deep insanity runs in his family as he explains to his fiancée, insanity doesn’t run in the family, “it practically gallops.” 

His kindly aunts have made a practice of helping lonely men who come to them to rent a room find a more permanent place to rest in peace, in the cellar. 

Jonathan, the dastardly brother no one talks about, enters with his accomplice Dr. Herman Einstein, to ultimately claim the Brewster mansion for his own evil deeds. The supporting, albeit clueless, cast of characters step in and out of scenes in this three-act play, making for a hilarious series of deceptive twists and turns.