Arsenic and Old Lace is a dark comedy written by Joseph Kesselring, set in the Brooklyn home of two sweet, elderly sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster. They are well-known in their neighborhood for their kindness and charity work, but it is soon revealed that they have a macabre secret: they have been poisoning lonely old men with arsenic-laced elderberry wine and burying their bodies in the cellar, believing they are performing a mercy to relieve their victims from suffering.

The plot thickens when Mortimer Brewster, their nephew, a theater critic, discovers what his aunts have been up to. Amid the chaos, Mortimer’s other nephew, the psychotic and delusional Jonathan, arrives with his accomplice Dr. Einstein, and the situation spirals out of control. Jonathan’s appearance threatens to expose the family’s secrets, while Mortimer tries desperately to keep everything from unraveling further. Filled with farcical situations, misunderstandings, and comedic mayhem, Arsenic and Old Lace is a play about family, madness, and the absurdity of life, blending the grotesque with humor in an unforgettable way.