From left, Claire Connors, Maeve Connors and Mike Ruff rehearse a scene from Arsenic and Old Lace, HF-L’s drama show production that is this weekend. Photo by Donna MacKenzie
The Brewster sisters in the play Arsenic and Old Lace think and act as one, but they are definitely not like the Haynes sisters who sing the song titled Sisters in the film White Christmas. The audience will quickly find that out when they attend this weekend’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace presented by the Honeoye Falls-Lima High School Drama Club.
Abby and Martha Brewster may seem like two kindly elderly sisters, but they have a dark secret: they murder lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of homemade elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch” of cyanide. The bodies are buried in the cellar by their nephew Teddy, who lives with them and believes he is President Theodore Roosevelt and who is convinced that he is digging locks for the Panama Canal and that the dead men all died of yellow fever. Teddy’s brother Mortimer, a theatre-hating drama critic, stops by as he is seeing Elaine, the daughter of the minister who lives next door. He proposes to Elaine, but after she leaves, is shocked to discover a dead man’s body hidden in the window seat and is horrified when his aunts easily confess that they have killed a dozen men. Mortimer breaks his engagement with Elaine. His life becomes more complicated when his brother Jonathan, who has not been heard from in many years, shows up after having escaped from a prison in Indiana along with an alcoholic accomplice Dr. Herman Einstein. Einstein has performed plastic surgery on Jonathan to conceal his identity. The two are looking for a hideout and a place to dispose of their own murder victim. How does Mortimer deal with his two aunts, his two brothers and a police officer named O’Hara who is enthralled with the theatre and wants Mortimer to help him write a play? That is revealed by the end of this three-act farcical black comedy.
“It’s an interesting role and runs the full emotional scale,” said senior Mike Ruff who plays Mortimer and is also the President of the Drama Club this year. “The most challenging part is the fact that this is a very complicated character and being sure to have the right emotions at the right time and scale them correctly and show the full growth throughout the show. Comedy is very fun but also challenging and it has been fun to work on that.”
In addition to Ruff, the members of the HF-L cast are Maeve Connors as Martha Brewster, Claire Connors as Abby Brewster, Adeline Beutner as Teddy Brewster, Abram Courtney as Jonathan Brewster, Simon Guckenbiehl as Dr. Herman Einstein, Dari Osso-Gomez as Officer Brophy, Kyla Donner as Officer Klein, Keith King as Mr. Gibbs, Nora Beckett as Officer O’Hara, Samantha Weeks as Lt. Rooney, Raegan Banker as Elaine Harper, Easton Curcio as Dr. Harper, Ben McMinn as Mr. Witherspoon, Lia Richardson as Mrs. Beckert, Teagan O’Connor as The Chairwoman, Jacob Moscicki as Dead Body and Kai Ferraro as Teddy’s Shadow. The last four characters are added ones to this show with Mrs. Beckert and The Chairwoman commenting on the happenings at the Brewster house and Teddy’s Shadow being that imaginary friend who understands Teddy and helps him understand the world and his reality.
Students on the crew for the production are Megan Parrish (student director), Fred Kirkwood (stage manager), Alannah Orr (assistant stage manager), Hope Marble and Teagan O’Connor (choreographers), Mallory Nicole Batz, Peterah Deisenroth, Samantha Lloyd, Grace Francis and Emily Repass (costume crew), Peterah Deisenroth, Samantha Rovik, Mari Murgas Cruz, Mallory Nicole Batz, Samantha Lloyd, Evelyn Thering (makeup crew), Megan Parrish, Maxwell Jacopille-Bornheimer and Will Gabrielsen (set design and construction), Mason Litteer, Adrien Abraham, Mallory Nicole Batz, Bridgit Atkinson, Will Gabrielsen and Naomi Stanley (stage/props crew), Lita Brady, Jasper Atkinson, Maylee Cross, Owain Curcio and Nora Beckett (sound crew), Gianna Woodcock, Alannah Orr and Bridgit Atkinson (light crew), Ariana Jones, Adrien Abraham and Andy Fosler (publicity crew).
For the Connors, who are twins and are also seniors, part of the allure of this show is playing sisters.
“This year, I get to play a sister with my sister and bring the chemistry that we already have in real life on to the stage,” Maeve Connors said. “I’m really excited about doing this show.”
Claire and Maeve Connors, like Ruff, have been involved in the fall drama productions all four years. Maeve Connors and Ruff have been onstage each year while Claire Connors was part of the crew in her freshman year before joining the other two on stage as a sophomore.
Maeve and Claire Connors have always liked theatre and thank their older sister Molly for being their inspiration. Molly Connors, a 2022 graduate of HF-L, was involved in the drama shows and musicals all four years of high school, capping her high school theatre experience by playing the role of Cosette in HF-L’s production of Les Miserables.
“Molly has been my inspiration my whole life as far as theatre is concerned,” Maeve said. “I have been lucky to do some shows outside of the school setting with her.”
Added Claire, “Seeing Molly since I was 3 years old, I knew this was something I would like to do with her and to have this connection with her is special. Music and theatre is something we are all so passionate about and it means so much to have that with her. Especially with her in Les Mis, seeing her being a leader in the drama program and being her authentic self, has really inspired me to be a leader in all the ways I can and to be my most authentic self, on and off stage.”
Being in the drama shows is quite different than being in a musical and it is not just because of a musical having the added facets of singing and dancing.
“The dramas are always so interesting to me because you really get to dive into the character and really focus on the relationships between the different characters. You get to really know the other actors and it is a tight-knit group. Drama is also a shorter time frame, so it is different to have a quicker turnaround. You’re working at a faster pace and working really hard on your acting skills rather than your music or dancing skills.”
Beckett, who plays O’Hara, is excited to make her debut in the high school fall drama show. A freshman, she was in the Middle School’s productions of Matilda Jr., Moana Jr. and High School Musical Jr. and has also dabbled in community theatre through Monsignor Schnacky Community Players.
“The most challenging part is how a middle school show and a high school show would work,” she said. “I do appreciate the challenge that being here has offered me. I am really glad that I get to work with seniors, juniors and sophomores; people older than me who have more experience in this field so that I can pick up tricks from them and learn better ways to act and to sing.”
HF-L High presents Arsenic and Old Lace on Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15 at 7 p.m. both nights at the newly-renovated HF-L High School auditorium, 83 East Street. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and will be on sale at the door (cash or check only).
