Helping lonely boarders to their heavenly rest

Mortimer Brewster (Adam Shanaman ’22, right) reassures his brother, who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt (Eric Lehman ’22), that “the country is squarely behind you.”

The scene is from a practice of Bluffton University’s fall play “Arsenic and Old Lace.”

The 1940s dark comedy centers around Brewster, whose charming and charitable aunts have an unusual ministry – helping lonely boarders to their heavenly rest by serving poisoned elderberry wine. 

Performances of “Arsenic and Old Lace” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31-Nov. 2 and 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 in Bluffton University’s Ramseyer Auditorium.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for senior citizens, Bluffton University faculty and staff, and non-Bluffton University students.

Bluffton University students are able to see the play for free. Tickets are available online at tickets.bluffton.edu or by calling the box office at 419-358-3239.