Review of Arsenic and Old Lace at Attic Productions

Arsenic and Old Lace currently running at Attic from now through April 6

Review by Priscilla Richardson, Botetourt Bee Theater Critic

For a crammed full evening of theater you can’t get any better than Arsenic and Old Lace. It’s comedy and a romance and a cops and robbers adventure all mixed up, so those attending must know to stay awake and keep all of the characters straight. And by the way, the plot too is very complicated. But all this is no never mind. You really don’t want to miss the deep down satisfaction of an evening with two lovely old ladies and their nephew the theater critic. A critic who writes his reviews in the cab on the way before he’s seen the play. The lovely ladies here manage to kill twelve lodgers but of course give them all proper funerals as they are laid to rest in their basement. They are no match for their other nephew’s friend Dr. Einstein, who aids and abets in murder. Numerous calls to the police don’t worry the family member who thinks he’s a Rough Rider. And so on. 

Director Wyatt Ewell has spun a masterful production out of all these crazy bits with the result that this evening is one of the best to come out of Attic. If you miss it you will be kicking yourself. Sally Miller and Kathy Boyer charm as the maiden aunts, Kevan Kavanaugh has his own charm as a somewhat confused but loving nephew. And Anthony Neal manages to look like a movie actor. (But not one you love.) You just have got to see this to believe it.

Review by Priscilla Richardson, Botetourt Bee Theater Critic