A spoonful of poison | Arsenic and Old Lace

This fast-paced, madcap, slightly sinister comedy should delight anyone who loves to laugh. The plot is complicated, but it all starts from Mortimer (Edward Mercieca)'s frightful realisation that his two sweet elderly aunts (Polly March and Marylu Coppini) have developed a very bad habit. It appears they have been poisoning lonely old men.

But they mean well; they consider turning it into a charity. They then leave it to their bugle blowing nephew Teddy (Colin Fitz) - who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt - to take them to the Panama Canal (the cellar) and bury them.

Written by Joseph Kesselring - which was made popular by its Cary Grant-starring film adaptation - this classic black comedy is directed by Josette Ciappara for MADC.

Uniformly successful on both stage and screen, the story is said to have been inspired by true events - particularly the recorded instance of an aged serial killer who took on borders in her Windsor, Conneticut home and poised them for their pension, during the turn of the 20th century.

The cast also includes Kate de Cesare,  Colin Willis, Joe Depasquale and Renato Dimech amongst others.

The show will run at the Manoel Theatre over April 20-22, 27-29 at 20:00. Tickets are at €17.5, €15, €10, €7. Bookings: 21 246389, or www.teatrumanoel.com.mt.