OFHS's Drama Group Performs Arsenic and Old Lace to Rave Reviews

The Oak Forest High School's drama group ended their season this weekend with the performance of their fall play Arsenic and Old Lace. The play which was written by Joseph Kesselring and became a movie in 1944 staring Cary Grant, can be described as a comedic thriller of murder and mayham.

The play is situated over the course of one long night and takes place at the Brewster house. The Brewster family's matriarchs are the Brewster sisters, Abby (Maddie McErlean) and Martha (Kinsey Carrera). They are lovely old women who are known in their city of Brooklyn, N.Y. for their charity and generosity. There doesn't seem to be a person in town who has not been helped by these two compassionate woman.

Mortimer Brewster (Canyon Novick) is the nephew of the sisters and is an important person in town having the job of the entertainment critic for the local newspaper. Mortimer is in love with the beautiful and sweet girl next door names Elaine Harper (Olivia Pedersen). Living in the Brewster house is Mortimer's brother Teddy (Christian Costello) who is delusional and believes he is Teddy Roosevelt, but otherwise quite harmless.

Mortimer proposes to Elaine in the opening scenes of the play and all is wonderful, until he finds a dead body in a window seat. It turns out that the wonderful Brewster sisters have taken up a new charity in which they poison and murder lonely bachelors. They feel it is a noble cause. Mortimer must come up with a plan to save his beloved Aunt's, keep his new fiancee in the dark about his crazy family and review a show all in the next few hours.

Enter Johnathon (Jake Kamper) who is Mortimer's other brother and criminally insane. Johnathan shows up with Dr. Einstein (Eian Tapia) his personal doctor and sidekick who changes Johnathan's face to keep him a free man. This dastardly duo have their own dead body to dispose of and when they bodies get mixed up, Mortimer is not sure what to do. Especially with the local police (Meghan Cahill, Alyssa Pacella, Alex Niesel, AJ Munoz, Gillian Cate and Kevin Sanchez) coming in and out.

The play ends with a comedy of errors that lets the Brewster sisters get away with murder, allows Mortimer to realize that he is not actually a Brewster and get the girl, sees that evil Johnathon goes to jail while the funny and lovable Dr. Einstein is able to slip away and elude the police. This play was a fast paced, thriller, with comedy through out and the Oak forest Drama Group performed it to perfection. All of these young adults performed their roles wonderfully.

I am just blown away every time I see a production put on by the Oak Forest Drama Group. It is amazing to me that these young adults manage to go to school all day long, most of them being in honors and AP classes and then go to practice 4-5 days a week after school, not to mention memorize pages and pages of dialogue and keep up with their grades. This bunch of dedicated actors and students defy the laws of time management, doing it all. I wanted to shine a spot light on these amazing teens who symbolize and personify the meaning of dedication and hard work. Let's meet the actors.

Kinsey Carrera who played Martha Brewster is a senior and has been an important staple to the drama department since she stepped into Oak Forest High School. She has been in every play and musical playing major roles. She is very active in choir singing the National Anthem at OFHS football games more times than she can remember and has landed the coveted role of the Queen in this year's Madrigals. She is a member of the GI team, president of the Thespian Society, and is an honor student. Kinsey is going to pursue Music Education in college and has already been accepted at Cedarville University in Ohio.

Canyon Novick played Mortimer, is a junior and is a seasoned Drama member who has been in every theater production since he was a freshman, playing major roles in the productions. He has had the leading role or a major role in all the musicals also. His major break out role was playing Conrad Birdie his freshman year. He is a member of the GI team, part of the Madrigals, a member of the choir and on Mathletes. He is ranked 3rd in his Junior class, is taking all AP classes this year and if that isn't enough, he has a job on the weekend.

Maddie McErlean who played Abby Brewster is a junior and has been an avid drama member since freshman year. She has been in all the plays and musicals also playing a major role in many of them. She was part of the madrigals starting her sophomore year which is very uncommon with these parts usually going to upperclassman. She is also on GI and part of choir. She credits her persistence in running her lines over and over until she knows them forward and backward for her flawless performances. Maddie is also an honor student taking AP classes this year.

Jake Kamper played Johnathan the homicidal brother. Jake is a junior and has been an integral part of the drama group since Freshman year. He played a major role in every production he has been in getting his first lead in the musical his freshman year. Once he got on the stage, he was a natural and knew that is where he belonged. He has been in all the musicals also. He is on choir, a member of GI and is in madrigals again this year. He is ranked 4th in his class and is taking all AP classes this year. Jake is looking forward to pursuing music in college and is looking at schools such as N.Y.U and Columbia.

Eian Tapia who played the diabolical but lovable Dr. Einstein was the break out star of the night. He has been involved with the drama group since being a freshman with his first major role coming in the Adams Family as a sophomore. He played Dr. Einstein with a German accent with a comic flair and made the audience laugh out loud more than a few times. Eian has played in all the musicals and is also a member of the GI group. He is part of the choir and a member of Madrigals.

Olivia Pederson is a junior and has been involved with the drama group since her sophomore year. She was a cheerleader freshman year but decided to give drama a try and fell in love with it. She has been in all the performances since, including the musicals. Last year she was one of the choreographers for the production of the Adams Family showing her versatility. She is a member of the Choir and is on the Varsity Bowling team. Olivia plans on majoring in English education and minoring in Theater in college.

Christian Costello is a sophomore and is a new comer to the drama group this year. He landed a major role in the play first time out which is not easy to do. He plays the delusional Teddy and is comic relief for much of the play, shouting charge every time he goes up the stairs and frequently playing his bugle while entering a room. Christian joined choir this year and decided to try out for the play. He is hooked and is planning on auditioning for the spring musical and thinking about joining the cast of Group Interpretation. Christian dabbles in art in his free time.

The supporting cast consisted of a group of wonderful and dedicated actors also. Alyssa Ryan who played Dr. Harper, Olivia Lugo who played Mr. Witherspoon, Alyssa Pacella who played Officer Klein have all been involved with the drama group since freshman year, are in choir, and participate in madrigals and the musical each year. Meghan Cahill who played Officer Brophy transferred here last year from Tinley Park High School and jumped right into the drama group. Alex Nieszel who played Officer O'Hara was in the Adams Family last year and is a welcomed addition to the crew. Wrapping up the cast is Olivia Earll who played Mr. Gibbs, Gillian Cate and Kevin Sanchez who played Rooney Officers, and AJ Munoz who played Lieutenant Rooney.

I would just like to give a loud and boisterous round of applause for this group of wonderful teenagers. They truly deserve it and not just for putting on a brilliant show, but for being the type of young adult that should be celebrated, acclaimed and hailed as wonderful role models. Bravo to the cast of Arsenic and Old Lace.