Temple Emanu-El to perform ‘Arsenic & Old Lace’

Members of Temple Emanu-El of East Meadow will perform “Arsenic & Old Lace,” directed by Jon Parker, for two consecutive weekends.

The play, written by Joseph Kesserling, is a black comedy centered around the characters Aunt Abby (played in the temple’s production by Andrea Conwell) and Aunt Martha (Gail Elis); the pair murders lonely old men by poisoning them with elderberry wine containing arsenic, strychnine and a pinch cyanide.

Abby and Martha also have three brothers. Teddy (Steven Epstein) thinks he’s President Theodore Roosevelt and is digging the Panama Canal in the cellar of the house — which also contains the graves of the murdered men. Jonathan (Gary Conwell) is a villain whose face has received plastic surgery as a disguise. The operation was performed by his inebriated accomplice, Dr. Einstein (Barry Friedlander). Boris Karloff played Dr. Einstein’s role in Broadway productions of the play. The only sane member of the family is a brother named Mortimer (Dan Rosner), who is a drama critic who must deal with his homicidal family and the local police.

Performances will be held on the following dates and times: Saturday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 10 at 6 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. The temple is located at 123 Merrick Ave.