Dennis Dutton
Special to Hutch Post
Audiences stepping into the Betsy Dutton Theatre later this month may feel as though they’ve stepped inside an old movie screen. Sterling High School Theatre will present the classic comedy Arsenic and Old Lace in a striking “living black and white” production, where everything on stage—from the set and costumes to the actors themselves—appears in black and white. Directed by Greg McGlynn, the production runs Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door are $5 for adults and $4 for students.
“It’s just like watching an old black-and-white movie,” McGlynn said. “There is no color at all. The set, the costumes—it’s all black, white, and many shades of gray. Even the actors’ skin is gray.”
The visual concept recreates the look of a 1940s film, immersing audiences in a monochrome world where every element—from scenery to wigs to makeup—is carefully designed in black, white, and shades of gray. Only one moment breaks the illusion.
“There will be one splash of color—red—at the very end when the plot is revealed,” McGlynn said.
The style fits perfectly with Arsenic and Old Lace, the darkly comic story of two sweet elderly sisters who have an unusual way of helping lonely gentlemen—by poisoning them and burying them in their basement. Their nephew Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic who has loudly denounced marriage, suddenly finds his life spiraling into chaos when he discovers the family’s shocking secret.
For McGlynn, the play carries a special regional connection. Playwright Joseph Kesselring served on the music faculty at Bethel College in nearby Newton from 1928 to 1930 and lived in the historic Goerz House during that time, a home believed to have inspired the Brewster residence in the play.
This production marks the fourth time McGlynn has directed Arsenic and Old Lace, which he first staged in 2009. The director and his cast visited the Newton Goertz House recently to see the house and to pose for pictures in costume.
“One cool aspect this time is that my two kids are in the cast,” he said. “My son James, a sophomore, plays Mortimer Brewster, and my daughter Kate, a freshman, plays one of the crazy aunts. Neither of them was even born yet when I directed the show the first time.”
The “living black and white” concept has become something of a signature for McGlynn, who first encountered the technique while teaching in Dallas in the late 1990s after seeing productions by Pegasus Theatre Company.
Each production presents unique challenges. The set and costumes must be coordinated using multiple shades of gray, and actors wear specially applied gray makeup to complete the monochrome effect.
The Sterling High School production is also breaking new ground for the program. McGlynn said the show features the largest set ever built for the Betsy Dutton Theatre—a massive two-story Victorian box set that has even been wired for lighting.
Sterling High School Theatre’s Arsenic and Old Lace will be performed March 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Betsy Dutton Theatre. Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students and will be available at the door prior to each performance.