Join us for our next reading on March 25, where we’ll dive into Joseph Kesselring’s hilariously funny Arsenic and Old Lace. The reading begins at 1:30pm, so please arrive by 1:15pm if you’d like a chance to read.
We’ve secured the Play Set from the Vancouver Public Library, which includes fourteen copies for us to share. If you’d prefer your own copy, you can check one out through the Burnaby Public Library, Vancouver Public Library, or simply bring a copy from home if you have one.
ABOUT ARSENIC AND OLD LACE
Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police – not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage – it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic dark comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.
ABOUT JOSEPH KESSELRING
Joseph Otto Kesselring was born in New York City on June 21, 1902. His career was always linked in some way to the theatre. His early years were spent as a singer (boy soprano and adult tenor), and at the age of twenty, he began teaching music and directing amateur theatre productions at Bethel College in Newton, Kansas. At twenty-three, he left academia to pursue acting, writing short stories, and producing vaudeville plays. He acted professionally in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES at the age of twenty-four and, at thirty-one, one year after his marriage to Charlotte Elsheimer, he devoted himself to writing, continuing to pen short stories and initiating his career as a playwright. Between 1933 and his death in 1967, he authored twelve plays—mostly light comedies. His first play to be produced, AGGIE APPLEBY, MAKER OF MEN, premiered in 1933, and four later plays were produced on Broadway: THERE’S WISDOM IN WOMEN (1935), ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1941), FOUR TWELVES ARE 48 (1951), and MOTHER OF THAT WISDOM (1963). Mr. Kesselring died on November 5, 1967, at the age of sixty-five.
Reading Theatre is created for those with a passion for live theatre. A live play reading of iconic plays over the ages. All are welcome and encouraged — from the seasoned professional to the inquisitive amateur and everyone in between.
Show up and read, or listen to others read these incredible shows. A short discussion may take place…or not. This is an event led by the cast and audience.
Readers will be chosen just before the play reading begins and will be cast by those who show up and express an interest in being involved. Some roles may be double cast.
This event is being led by Allan Morgan, Senior Artist in Residence and Vancouver theatre scene stalwart. We’d love to see you there!
ABOUT ALLAN MORGAN
Allan has been a stage actor for more than thirty years. Some highlights include appearing in London, GB, Adelaide Australia, Wellington NZ and San Francisco, all with The Overcoat. He appeared for several seasons at Bard on the Beach, notably in The Tempest as Prospero, as well as King John, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing.
He has toured across Canada with the Electric Company in Studies in Motion. He has appeared at The Belfry, notably in The Drawer Boy, Dirty Blonde, and I am My Own Wife for which he received the Victoria Critic’s Award for best performance. Other favourites include Red, Thinking of Yu, and Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre for ATP in Calgary.
Allan has two solo plays: I Walked the Line; and Pride: for the young gay, the ungay and the jaded queen in all of us.
