Seeking Volunteers for “Arsenic & Old Lace”

Friends of the Village Players,

We need volunteers for our first show of our 71st season: Arsenic & Old Lace!

Arsenic & Old Lace is a play written by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, in 1939. It has become best known through the subsequent film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra.

Show dates are January 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 & 27 at 8pm. There will also be Sunday matinees held on January 14 and 21 at 2pm.

• “Arsenic & Old Lace” Volunteer Spreadsheet

Join the new VPH Volunteers Facebook Group to help you coordinate with your friends which dates you may want to volunteer together!

SYNOPSIS

A farcical black comedy revolving around the Brewster family, descended from the Mayflower, but now composed of insane homicidal maniacs. The hero, Mortimer Brewster, is a drama critic who must deal with his crazy, homicidal family and local police in Brooklyn, New York, as he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves.

His family includes two spinster aunts who have taken to murdering lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and “just a pinch” of cyanide; a brother who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt and digs locks for the Panama Canal in the cellar of the Brewster home; and a murderous brother, who has received plastic surgery performed by an alcoholic accomplice, Dr. Einstein to conceal his identity, and now looks like horror-film actor Boris Karloff.

This show will be directed by Allison Schrader, assisted by Kara McCormick (AD for The Murder Room), and produced by Richard Lutz.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

We will need up to 5 people per show (2 for lobby/concessions, 1 for 50/50, and 2 for Box Office). No experience is necessary for most positions; we will let you know what you need to do if you volunteer. Please arrive one hour before showtime.

Here are the basic descriptions of your responsibilities should you wish to volunteer.

LOBBY/CONCESSIONS

If you’ve never volunteered before, ask anyone backstage to point you towards the stage manager. They can get you started on your first duty of preparing the coffee. Otherwise, feel free to get started on your own. The coffee should be ready by 7:30/1:30 when doors open. You will be given programs to hand out to the audience as they enter the theater.

50/50

You should be in the lobby as doors open to the public. You should actively engage with our patrons and encourage them to purchase 50/50 tickets. They, of course, have a chance to win half the pot. The other half is always appreciated and goes to very good use in helping maintain our theater. During intermission, you will do the same in the lobby and then also walk around to all the seats for one last attempt before picking the winning ticket at the end of intermission.

BOX OFFICE

You will be responsible for receiving payment and handing out tickets.

Take a look at the volunteer spreadsheet. Click the link to see what dates/positions have been taken and which one(s) you want.

• “Arsenic & Old Lace” Volunteer Spreadsheet

Please email Production@thevillageplayers.com with which date/position you’d like.  Any questions you have should also be directed to that address, too.

Thanks for all of your help!