Arsenic and Old Lace

Can a play about two sweet old ladies who poison and then bury lonely men with no family ties in their basement – with the help of a nephew who thinks he’s President Theodore Roosevelt – be a comedy? Sure it can, when its playwright Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace, written in 1939 and then turned into a memorable and madcap Cary Grant movie directed by Frank Capra in 1944.

Arsenic and Old Lace is the second play to be staged by Exit, Pursued By A Bear (Bear Theatre for short), downtown Roanoke’s new community theatre, with show dates October 4-5, and Oct. 11-13, with a 7:30pm curtain except for the 2:30 matinee on October 13. Tickets for Arsenic and Old Lace go on sale Friday, September 6 at beartheatre.com.