ARSENIC AND OLD LACE; BYU department of media and theatre arts; Pardoe Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo campus; through April 15; 422-4322; running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes with one intermission.
PROVO — The sweet little old ladies of BYU's "Arsenic and Old Lace" are like no others you're ever met.
Not only are they unapologetic about poisoning lonely old men, but Barta Heiner and Janet Swenson, as Abby and Martha Brewster, are a couple of remarkable stand-out stage performers.
Don't miss this rare chance to see them together.
They're funny, perfectly cast and the epitome of everybody's elderly aunt: fluttery, gracious and easily flustered except when it comes to bodies in the cellar.
Plus, they have a script that's rich in irony and humor as these two — who would never tell a fib — combine their love of funerals with their charitable instincts and kill off people they figure have nothing to live for.
The secret is in their recipe for elderberry wine.
Mortimer Brewster, played by Ben Cummins, is beside himself when he realizes what his aunts are doing. He can't understand them, and he can't make them see that their hobby is "a very bad habit. It's not a nice thing to do."
They're indignant that Mortimer wants to interfere in their work.
As he sets about trying to stop them and save them from themselves, his romance with the minister's daughter is rocked, and he comes up against a very nasty brother — Jonathan, played by Matthew R. Carlin — who has his own deadly agenda.
Toss in a nutty brother who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt (played wonderfully by Daniel Hess) and a couple of Keystone cops, and it makes for a chaotic, crazy plotline.
Add in a marvelous, beautifully decorated set that looks like the best grandma house ever, about 60 framed pictures, a velvet couch, a crystal chandelier and a windowbox with lace curtains that holds a body or two and you've got an evening of surprises and fun.
Even if this is a familiar play to you, this production is worth seeing anew.
The costuming is gorgeous.
The pace is almost frenetic.
Only a few flubbed lines and an occasional misplaced shadow behind the glass door marred the preview night. Even then, the missteps were picked up nicely by the actors, who stayed in character without missing a beat.
The policemen and the fiance get kind of carried away with themselves, but it's really a play about over-the-top people so it's understandable.
Go for Heiner and Swenson.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com