Actors Audition For Play "Arsenic & Old Lace"

Abby Brewster has lived with her sister, Martha, & their nephew, Teddy, in the Brewster home in Brooklyn for years. She is an important & prominent member of the community: she knows every policeman, every preacher, she works for numerous charitable causes, & brings people homemade soup when they’re ill. Abby behaves in every way like a loving and sweet old lady. She is very proud of her “good deeds”. While the two Brewster sisters are remarkably similar, Abby is the more dominant of the two.

Martha, like Abby, has lived in the Brewster home in Brooklyn for years. She is an important and prominent member of the community: she knows every policeman, every preacher, she works for numerous charitable causes and brings people homemade soup when they’re ill. She acts in every way like a loving and sweet old lady. While the two Brewster sisters are remarkably similar, Martha is a little meeker than Abby. She is genuinely scared of her menacing nephew, Jonathan.

Mortimer is Martha and Abby’s nephew and the brother of Teddy and Jonathan. We see him at the beginning of the play as a confident, sarcastic, yet content man. He is currently a theatre critic at a New York newspaper; he used to happily cover real estate, but his job asked him to move to the “lowly” theatre position. He may not love his current position at the newspaper, but he deals with his situation with aplomb.

Teddy Brewster is Mortimer’s brother & Abby and Martha’s mad nephew who lives under the happy delusion that he is President Theodore Roosevelt. He knows everything about Teddy Roosevelt, including the names of all of his cabinet members. Teddy constantly confuses visitors with those cabinet members, but is charming & authentic enough that everybody plays along with his delusions. Teddy relates everything in his life back to Roosevelt’s reality. The actor playing Teddy must have great enthusiasm.

Officer O’Hara is a member of the Brooklyn police force and is on good terms with the elderly murderesses Abby and Martha Brewster (though he is not aware of their crimes). He has been a police officer for twelve years but insists that the job is only temporary. His real aspiration is to become a famous playwright. He states that his many years of police experience have allowed him to collect material worthy of a good murder mystery play.

Jonathan is Abby & Martha’s nephew and Mortimer and Teddy’s brother. He is the black sheep of the family, and no one brings him up in conversation. Jonathan is a truly twisted individual who used to inflict torture on Mortimer when they were children. In short, he is a sociopath. Jonathan left the house when he was young, and has been traveling abroad, committing random murders and crimes across the globe. Along the way, he met Dr. Einstein, a capable surgeon who acts as his partner in crime.

Dr. Einstein is Jonathan’s accomplice to his multiple crimes around the world. While Jonathan (Dr. Einstein calls him Johnny) is the “brawn” of the operation, Dr. Einstein is definitely the “brain”. He is a talented surgeon who can change people’s faces. He has personally changed Jonathan’s face three times; the last job, unfortunately, made Jonathan look like Boris Karloff. Dr. Einstein is very afraid of Jonathan because he knows the evil of which he is capable.

Elaine is Mortimer’s girlfriend, who becomes engaged to him at the beginning of the play. She is the daughter of Reverend Harper, who dislikes Mortimer because he regularly frequents the sinful theatre scene in New York (a necessity, as Mortimer works as a theatre critic). Despite her conservative upbringing, Elaine is an independent woman who speaks her mind. Unlike her father, she loves the theatre, and enjoys going to new plays and musicals with Mortimer.

Reverend Harper is Elaine’s father and the Reverend of the Parish that Martha and Abby Brewster attend. The Aunts (Martha and Abby) love Dr. Harper’s sermons, and he, in turn, dotes on them. His feelings for Mortimer, their nephew, are a bit more complicated. While he likes Mortimer, and believes him to be a fine gentleman, he is worried about Mortimer’s connections with the theatre — and thus his eligibility to be affianced to Dr. Harper’s beloved daughter, Elaine.

Mr. Witherspoon is the head of Happy Dale, an insane asylum where Martha and Abby Brewster intend to send their very mad nephew, Teddy, after they pass away. Mr. Witherspoon is mostly professional and aloof, but he seems to care about the well-being of his patients at Happy Dale. We learn that he has no family, a fact that interests the Aunts greatly.

Lieutenant Rooney is the head of the Brooklyn police force and appears at the end of the play. He seems to be constantly picking up the messes made by his less-than-stellar officers, and is strained, as a result.

Loyal and caring Officer Brophy is a member of the police force in Brooklyn. He regularly visits elderly sisters Martha and Abby Brewster at their house, helping them prepare for their charity work. He loves the Aunts and refuses to hear anything bad said about them. He indulges in their mad nephew Teddy’s belief that he is President Roosevelt, saluting him whenever he sees him.

Officer Klein is a member of the police force in Brooklyn. He regularly visits elderly sisters Martha and Abby Brewster at their house, helping them prepare for their charity work. He loves the Aunts and refuses to hear anything bad said about them. He indulges in Teddy’s belief that he is President Roosevelt, saluting him whenever he sees him.

Mr. Gibbs is a gentleman who appears to inquire about renting Martha and Abby’s spare room. Brusque and demanding, Mr. Gibbs wants to see the room straight away, but after the Aunts insist on talking to him first he gives in and sits down — though he’s annoyed about it. He answers their questions curtly; we learn he has no family and lives in a hotel he doesn’t like. The only time we see a trace of happiness from Gibbs is when the Aunts offer him elderberry wine.