To the editor:

With all the doom and gloom of the presidential election and the anxiety and depression it evokes, maybe area residents should consider spending a few hours at Edison State Community College and support the theatre program there while getting some relief from stress.

Director Emily Beisner has selected “Arsenic and Old Lace” as the fall performance at Edison State in Piqua and takes audience members to Brooklyn where two spinster aunts are up to no good as they rid the community of selected men with their elderberry wine. The wine, of course, has some additives which are guaranteed to result in a quick trip to the basement of their home.

In the basement their crazy brother thinks he is Theodore Roosevelt and is busy digging locks for the Panama Canal. He is, of course, digging graves for the sinister work of his sisters.

Funny, you bet. Crazy, yes. Bridget Collins and Becky Ritz will have you laughing as they mask their criminal behavior behind solicitous behaviors and no small amount of lace. Chris Garner plays the crazy brother and does so with energy and over-the-top craziness. Now that you know the plot, use your detective skills to see how playwright Joseph Kisselring drops the hints of the mischief that is afoot.

Performances continue on Nov. 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 3:30 p.m. Adults, $7; students $5; seniors $3.

Vivian Blevins

Piqua