Arsenic And Old Lace

The play is set in the Brewster family house in Brooklyn, which is currently occupied by the two elderly Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha. These two ladies are locally renowned for the charitable works. The house is situated next door to a cemetry, beyond which is the vicarage occupied by the Reverend Dr. Harper, and his daughter Elaine. Also living in the Brewster house is Teddy, a nephew of the Brewster sisters. Teddy has two brothers. The one is Mortimer who is a New York theatre critic and who is amorously attached to Elaine. The other is Jonathan, who has left New York at an early age under dubious circumstances and since travelled the world, lately in the companionship of Dr. Herman Einstein, a medical practitioner of German origin.