Binghamton University’s Dickinson Community Players will be performing on the Dickinson Dining Hall stage for the last time in “Arsenic and Old Lace” this weekend at 9 p.m. on April 29 and 30, and at 10 p.m. on May 1.
For those unfamiliar with the DC Players, they are the oldest student-run theater group on campus.
Amber Rivers, the secretary for DC Players and a senior majoring in anthropology, explained that what makes the Players different from main-stage productions is that they’re completely student-run.
“The shows are chosen, directed, produced and acted by students. You don’t have to have any prior experience or be a member of Dickinson Community to get involved,” Rivers said.
This is a bittersweet moment for the DC Players, with Dickinson Dining Hall being torn down and transforming into Newing-Dickinson Dining Hall. Starting next year the DC Players will be performing there, on a brand new stage with new equipment and permanent seating.
Stephanie D’Aquila, the DC Players’ artistic director and a senior double-majoring in psychology and Spanish, said the change should ultimately be a good one.
“After years and years of performances, the stage is basically in ruins. Pieces of the flooring are ripped up, there are holes on the end of the stage, half of the lights don’t work, the curtains are old and torn,” D’Aquila explained. “As monumental as it is that this will be the very last performance on this historic stage, I think it is time DC Players got a new, updated crib.”
“Arsenic and Old Lace” is a black comedy centered around Mortimer Brewster and his two aunts who poison lonely men with homemade elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and “just a pinch” of cyanide.
Rebecca Harro, a senior double-majoring in Arabic and Judaic studies, and Daniel Hauben, a senior double-majoring in English and geography, are the co-directors of the DC Players’ last play in the Dickinson Dining Hall.
“I wanted to direct ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ this semester because it is my last semester and I have been wanting to participate in a theater group on campus since I first came to Binghamton,” Harro said. “The cast has worked very hard to get to this point. They are an enthusiastic bunch, and I am confident that they will bring a fun, tight performance come opening night.”
Hauben agreed the show is one that should not be missed.
“The show is a classic and it’s hilarious,” Hauben said. “It’s certainly a bittersweet moment when tradition is traded for the sake of modernity.”
Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the door.