This weekend and next Drama Dock will bring the gruesomely funny comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace” to the stage.

Written by American playwright Joseph Kesselring and directed on Vashon by Chaim Rosemarin, the play is set in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, and revolves around the Brewster family. Although they are descended from the Mayflower, they have since “evolved” into homicidal maniacs.

The family includes two maiden aunts: Abby (Lisa Breen) and Martha (Gaye Detzer) who, out of the goodness of their hearts, have decided to dispatch lonely old men into the better beyond by poisoning them with homemade elderberry wine laced with arsenic and two other secret ingredients. Their brother Teddy (Daniel Macca) believes he is Theodore Roosevelt, and a  truly crazy, murderous brother Jonathan (Jeff Woollen) has received plastic surgery by his alcoholic friend  Dr. Einstein (Gordon Millar) to conceal his identity and now looks like horror-film actor Boris Karloff.

The only sane member of the clan is Mortimer Brewster (Marshall Murray), a New York theater critic who is in love with the vicar’s daughter Elaine (Bonny Moss), and he can’t decide whether to keep his promise to marry her.

The rest of the cast consists of an almost victim (Tim McTighe), various police officers, a vicar and a nursing home superintendent, roles played by Max Lopuszynski, Peter Kreitner, Marjon McDermott, Phil Dunn and Mick Etchoe.

A mixture of newcomers and Drama Dock veterans will take the stage, according to Rosemarin.

“I am very enthusiastic about the cast,” he added. “They are very hard working and dedicated. All together,  they present a very large amount of talent.”

The show will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Oct. 2 and 9; 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and at 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 4 and 11, at the Vashon High School theater. A preview performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, will be by admission of food donations for the food bank or $5 at the door. Ticket prices are $18 for all other shows.