Alley Theatre to host play about murderous old ladies

Jan. 13—ANDERSON — Abby and Martha Brewster are sweet old ladies who will do anything to help someone in need.

They take children to the movies, bring soup to the sick and rent rooms to lonely men.

"My sister and I are very sweet, gentile, Victorian ladies," said Kay Winter, who will portray Martha in "Arsenic and Old Lace," slated for Jan. 18-21 at the Alley Theatre.

Their sweet persona allows them to conceal their murderous acts, which they consider to be charitable.

Their male tenants mysteriously expire after drinking a glass of the sisters' elderberry wine.

Abby and Martha also care for Teddy, who believes he's Teddy Roosevelt.

One day, Teddy digs the "Panama Canal" in the Brewsters' cellar. Little does he know it will double as a burial ground.

"When someone dies at our house, he thinks it's a yellow fever victim," Winter said.

"Yellow fever victims have to be buried immediately, so we take that person down to the Panama Canal and bury them in the lochs."

Adding to the mix is Jonathan, an estranged nephew.

Jonathan is a homicidal maniac, evading arrest through plastic surgery.

Caught in the middle is Mortimer, Abby and Martha's soon-to-be married nephew.

His eccentric family makes him question whether he wants to get married. He fears he, too, could be insane, according to director Kevin Weston.

"It's about family dynamics and the tension. What is good and what is evil," Weston said.

Follow Caleb Amick on Twitter @AmickCaleb. Contact him at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or 765-648-4254.