Highlights

Campus News

Wildcat Weekly Minute for Nov. 17, 2011

A look at what's happening on campus this week.

Faith

Cleansed through the Cross

Dr. Quarles speaks on the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice at weekly chapel

Sports

LC hoops teams wrap up homestand with pair of wins

Off to Ozarks, UT-Dallas next

Organizations

LC media student give to Toys for Tots

More than 100 toys will help local charity

Campus Life

February is Heart Health Awareness Month

Stay healthy and 'God Red'

Culture

All the Shakespeare you could laugh at… and more!

tlc's adaptation of 'Shakespeare Abridged' pulls out all the stops

Special Coverage

LC brings another successful ‘Follow the Star’

'Christmas on the Hill' and 'Gala' add to festive weekend

TLC’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace “murderously” good

by Quinn Lavespere

A review of LC's spring play.

Joseph Kesslering’s comedy "Arsenic and Old Lace" is a timeless satire about murder, and theatre louisiana college is succeeding in “murdering” audiences with laughter in its latest production.

Kesslering’s play focuses on the misadventures of the crazed Brewster family made up of murderous aunts Abby and Martha, their delusional nephew Teddy, who thinks he is famous president Theodore Roosevelt, and their other nephew Mortimer, who is a theatre critic attempting to woo the lovely Elaine Harper, who is a preacher’s daughter.

While I don’t want to give away too much, the play takes a turn in later acts with the return of Mortimer’s murderous brother Jonathan and his assistant Dr. Einstein, who poses as a plastic surgeon. Revelations are revealed, yet in the most hilarious manner possible.

tlc’s scenery and lighting were, I felt, used perfectly. The inside of Abby and Martha’s house was authentic for the time period in which Arsenic and Old Lace was written (that being the early 1940s), and the lighting, which ranged from bright and clear to dark in different scenes, was employed on time by the technicians and made it easy to see the actors.

The sound could use a little work, however. Arsenic and Old Lace is a play that requires actors to employ faux accents (i.e. Dr. Einstein’s German accent), and it was hard to understand what the actors were saying at times. Furthermore, during conversations in the living room, it could be frustrating at times to understand what the characters were saying. Still, the sound was rather solid.

I can’t say enough about the brilliant acting. Candice Carr and Abbie Cope were absolutely extraordinary as the murderous Brewster aunts, and they really had fun with their parts. John Willie was hilarious as the easily frightened Mortimer, and he brought tremendous energy to his parts. Lauren Dunn also did a great job as Elaine, and Chris McDowell was amazing as secondary character Officer O’Hara.

Perhaps the two best performances in the play were delivered by Dale De Perrodil as Teddy and Devan Dubois as Einstein. Perrodil was the absolute embodiment of the crazed yet hilarious Teddy, while Dubois’s performance recalled the great Peter Lorre’s classic turn in the 1944 film adaptation. Furthermore, the secondary parts were all superbly played, and I thought Eric Goodman was solid as the menacing Jonathan.

Overall, I felt that TLC’s actors did great justice to Kesselring’s most popular play, and I feel that the performance this past Saturday was rather awesome. I therefore recommend Arsenic and Old Lace to audiences who have not seen the play yet.

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