It’s visited just about every American stage and TV screen for nearly 70 years, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy “Arsenic and Old Lace” one more time.

So put down that “special” elderberry wine.

TheatreWorks’ new production of Joseph Kesselring’s 1941 hit aims to demonstrate why a classic becomes a classic.

“Strictly American comedies grow on only a very few trees,” says director Murray Ross.

“And ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ is one of those rare fruits. We wanted to discover why this wickedly endearing play has created such a large residue of goodwill and affection.”

Every proven comedic element is here and in the right proportions: High stakes, quirky characters, surprising entrances, double takes, pratfalls, plot twists and witty dialogue.

Theater critic Mortimer Brewster (Michael Kane) discovers that his spinster aunts have taken up a distressing hobby: To relieve single old men of their loneliness, they dose them with arsenic-laced elderberry wine.

Nephew Teddy (played by Joe Kinnett), who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, obligingly buries these “yellow fever victims” in the Panama Canal he is digging in the basement.

A third nephew, the sadistic murderer Jonathan (Steve Wallace), shows up with his sidekick Dr. Einstein (Tom Paradise), intending to make the house his new hideout.

Like any comedy, “Arsenic” depends on split-second timing by cast and crew.

“It’s a surprisingly difficult play,” says Barbara Summerville, who plays Aunt Abby, “with lines interwoven and tumbling over each other.”

Summerville and Sue Bachman, as Aunt Martha, also like the play for its atmosphere of a gentler time. Although the action takes place in 1941, the aunts remain firmly in Victorian mode.

“I like the elegance portrayed here that was once part of our culture,” says Bachman, “I like the preciousness of good manners and charm that goes along with it.”

Indeed, the comedy does not rely on any of the usual vulgarities that the early 21st century finds commonplace. Even the murders seem in good taste. This antique is not ready for storage in the nation’s dramatic attic.

Colorado Springs TheatreWorks presents “Arsenic and Old Lace”

When: Opens Thursday, runs 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, 2 p.m. May 1, 8 and 15, runs through May 16

Where: Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater, UCCS, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway (near Union Boulevard)

Tickets: $25, $15 for kids 15 and younger, free for UCCS students with ID; 255-3232; theatreworkscs.org

Photo by Theatreworks