Summer 2025 @ RHP
This summer, we have three events scheduled to take place.
First up is our 7th Annual Players’ Awards Ceremony and Annual Meeting.
Ramona Hillside Players in Hemet, CA will hold open auditions for “Arsenic & Old Lace”.
Written by Joseph Kesselring
Directed by Joey Mercado
Assistant Directed by Kimberly Restaneo
Auditions July 13th & 14th, 2025
Callbacks July 15th, 2025
All auditions begin at 7:00 PM
Performance dates are September 12th, 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th, & 21st, 2025 @ RHP in Hemet
The audition will consist of cold readings from the script. Please come prepared with a resume, headshot (It doesn’t need to be professional. A regular picture of yourself will do), pen/pencil, and a list of conflicts.
PLOT:
Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police—not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage—it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic black comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
*** All Ages are Relative ***
Abby and Martha Brewster: Darling elderly ladies whose main recreation is poisoning elderly men. They are very close sisters aunts to Teddy, Jonathan, and Mortimer. No one would ever suspect such older ladies who possess a Victorian charm would be serial killers.
Mortimer Brewster: The main character of the play, he is nephew of Abby and Martha, Mortimer is a drama critic who is engaged to Elaine. He is a nice man who cares for his dear aunts and is extremely surprised to discover their “hobby” of disposing of old men by having Teddy bury them in the basement. Mortimer is the only Brewster who is relatively sane.
Elaine Harper: An attractive woman and Mortimer’s fiancée, Elaine is the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Harper. She is surprisingly wise in the ways of the world for a minister’s daughter.
The Rev. Dr. Harper: Kindly and conservative Minister and father of Elaine, Mortimer’s bride-to-be.
Teddy Brewster: Nephew of Abby and Martha Brewster, Teddy is a mentally ill man who thinks that he is Theodore Roosevelt, working on the Panama Canal.
Jonathan Brewster: Nephew of Abby and Martha Brewster, he is a wanted murderer who is running from the law. Jonathan is a psychopath who has had botched plastic surgery and now looks like Boris Karloff.
Dr. Einstein: A failed plastic surgeon and alcoholic, Dr. Einstein has changed Jonathan’s face three times, successful only in deforming his appearance. Comic, he speaks with a heavy German accent.
Officer O’Hara: A police officer, O’Hara is a would-be playwright who pesters Mortimer to read his play.
Officer Brophy and Officer Klein: Police officers who regularly visit the Brewster home for tea and cookies; of course, they have NO IDEA that these kindly old ladies are actually homicidal maniacs!
Lieutenant Rooney: A tough and dominating police officer.
Mr. Witherspoon: The superintendent of Happy Dale Sanitarium, an institution for the mentally ill.
27402 Ramona Bowl Road
Hemet, CA 92544