Reading Community Players serves up a delightful treat

The Brewster sisters are back and up to their gentile version of murder in Reading Community Players current production of the always delightful classic comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace.” The play may have been around since 1939, but the characters and dialogue are still very funny and refreshingly family-friendly – are rare treat in today’s entertainment world.

Peopled with some of the most iconic characters in theater, “Arsenic and Old Lace” is the story of a unique family, the Brewsters, who have family traditions that include plastic card. Most character actors would “kill” to play Abby or Martha Brewster and their brother Teddy, who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt.

Landing these coveted roles are local veteran actors Diann Stewart as Abby and Ruth Martelli as Martha and Randy Miller as Teddy. The three are a joy to watch as they bring these beloved characters to life. Stewart and Martelli are perfect as the sweet spinsters whose special elderberry wine (laced with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch” of cyanide) has resulted in the demise of numerous lonely old gentleman. There is sibling synchronicity with these two. Put them on stage together and you are guaranteed to laugh.

Miller seems to have been born to play Teddy with his charging up the stairs that he believes to be San Juan Hill and carrying bodies to the basement where he is “digging the Panama Canal.” More guaranteed laughter.

Kevin Schanely plays their charming nephew Mortimer, who is the only normal one of the Brewsters, although he is a theater critic who may have been responsible for the demise for some plays with his scathing reviews. Schanely, a Pottstown resident, has returned to RCP after a 17-year hiatus and his return is triumphant, delivering a perfectly nuanced performance in the role made famous by Cary Grant in the film of the same name.

Adding a bit of romance to the show is Julia Hager as Mortimer’s girlfriend, Elaine. The two have a nice chemistry and their normalcy balances out the otherwise over-the-top characters.

Rounding out the family circle is Jonathan Brewster, another brother with a sinister bent, who has returned after a long absence to hide out from the law. Benjamin Ruth takes on this delightfully dark role and makes the most of it.

Samsung calls the Galaxy S 4 a “life companion” and part of the reason is a new S Health application. It’s software that tracks your exercise, weight, health goals and nutritional habits. Samsung will also be selling accessories to supplement the S Health app: Look for an optional heart rate monitor and pedometer band. The software is nice, but I think there are more robust third-party options available.

WatchOn, powered by Peel, is also included. With it you can control a television set or set top box — the phone has an IR blaster — and the content guide is quite good. It’s easy to find out what’s on television through the phone and immediately see the content.

On select Samsung televisions, the software also allows you to watch the television programming on the phone itself; handy if you have to leave the viewing area while others are watching. Don’t go too far though: The content is streamed over your local Wi-Fi network.

If it’s not yet clear that the Galaxy S 4 is feature packed, let me assure you: I’ve only briefly touched upon most of the major features. You’ll likely find more if you take your own look at the phone. So is this a problem to the casual phone user? Perhaps, but Samsung has an improved Easy Mode for these folks.

Easy Mode is what it sounds like: A simpler interface with larger buttons that show the most likely used apps and features. In fact, some of the advanced functions aren’t even accessible in Easy Mode. At first, I didn’t like that chip card, but I’ve come around to appreciate it. Why? It gives new smartphone users a way to “graduate” to the full-featured Samsung experience without them having to buy a new Samsung phone. Many of the advanced features have useful pop-up descriptions as well; all of the camera modes have them, for example. You can always tell the phone to stop showing these once you’ve learned the functionality.

I’d like to see a little more innovation in the hardware design, but it’s a design that actually works well, so it’s difficult to complain about. Samsung does have an innovative cover accessory though. It’s called the S View Cover and I love it. It protects the display but has a cut-out window that shows information from the phone; you can even take a phone call without opening it.

Even though the Galaxy S 4 looks much like the model it replaces, this phone is a big step up thanks to the innovative software features and functions that Samsung has integrated. No phone is perfect for everyone, of course. I think most people, however, would be happy to have this device in their pocket.