Arsenic & Old Lace

Arsenic & Old Lace
Originally uploaded by CornishRambler.

Last night we went to see Arsenic and Old Lace at the Hall For Cornwall, which I wanted to see because Louise Jameson was in it, and other than a vague familiarity with the title, didn't know a lot about it.

Two elderly sisters living in Brooklyn (Jameson, and Sherrie Hewson) have been making a habit of offing their prospective lodgers and getting their nephew (who's convinced he's Teddy Roosevelt) to bury them in the cellar. Over one frenetic night, newly engaged second nephew Mortimer finds out their secret in the shape of a body in the window seat. The same night, their long lost criminal third nephew turns up, accompanied by sinister German plastic surgeon Einstein (think Herr Flick's hapless sidekick in Allo Allo) - and they've got a body of their own to dispose of too...

Was slightly uneasy for the first few minutes, as it appeared to be largely acting-by-shouting, but soon settled into the spirit and thoroughly enjoyed it (although another inch of legroom would have gone a long way, if you see what I mean). The comic timing was brilliant and I loved the set of the house interior. The programme was unusually good value too, with as well as info on the current production, sections on the history of the play and on the history of arsenic and its uses in poisoning!