YCTIWY PLAYBILL ARTWORK HERE
2
Welcome to the Alley Theatre
T he Mission of the Alley Theatre’s
Education and Community
Engagement programs is to apply
theatre practice in a wide range of
community contexts — to use the practice of
theatre to strengthen and promote the
interpersonal goals of our community partners; to
provide a vehicle for meaningful community
discourse; to create the most advanced training
ground for emerging theatre artists; and to
become a driving force for arts education within
our schools.
Our Core Values:
Empathy and collaboration through the
practice of theatre
Service to our community by teaching our
art form in multiple settings
Innovation and quality in our practice
Excellence in developing
exemplary replicable
nationally recognized
programming
3
Foundation
Ray C. Fish Foundation
George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation
William E. and Natoma Pyle Harvey Charitable Trust
National Corporate Theatre Fund Hearst Creative Impact
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™
Immanuel & Helen B. Olshan Foundation, Inc.
The Powell Foundation
Kinder Foundation
Robert W. & Pearl Wallis Knox Charitable Foundation
Lillian Kaiser Lewis Foundation
William Randolph Hearst Foundation
Government
Texas Commission on the Arts /Education
TCA/Public Safety/Criminal Justice
Harris County Department of Education
Corporation
Boeing
Deloitte
Enbridge Energy Company, Inc.
Macy's
Marathon Oil Company
Parker Drilling Company
Shell Oil Company
United Airlines
Our Partners in Education
4
Baby Dinosaurs in Staging Stem at the Play Makers Summer
camp, 2013
Education at the Alley Theatre
T he Alley Theatre is firmly committed to the idea that participation in
the arts and arts integration in education is more than enriching — it is
essential!
Studies have illustrated that students who study the arts are more
active in community affairs, assume leadership roles, are more likely to participate in
math or science fairs and have increased self-esteem and confidence.
Additionally, research has demonstrated that what students learn in the arts helps
them to succeed in other subjects and promotes skills that are vital to the future
workforce. But developing a love of theatre is a progressive process, requiring
sustained exposure.
Arts Education:
Improves critical literacy skills for all learners
Sparks curiosity and fosters personal growth
Celebrates diversity and cultural heritage
Encourages creativity and critical thinking
Inspires civic participation
Become a School PARTNER
Becoming an Alley Partner provides teachers with a valuable outside resource that augments existing curriculum. School
partnerships are tailored to meet individual school needs and can involve participation in multiple programs.
Students and educators participate in observing plays. They discuss the characters and language. They take part in playmaking,
theatre design and production workshops with guest teaching artists and with each other. Together, the school and the Alley design
an experience to suit your teaching needs and address the students’ needs.
If you are bringing students to a performance of You Can’t Take It With You, please consider scheduling a pre– or post-
performance workshop for your group or classes. To check availability, please contact Education and Community Engagement at
713.228.9341 or at [email protected].
This teacher guide includes eight lesson plans. The first and last ones are the most essential in order to prepare students for the
play and to help them process the experience. We have included TEKS suggestions here for your convenience. Please adjust the
lesson plans for You Can’t Take It With You to suit the needs of your classroom.
5
Senior Summer Conservatory Performance, 2013
Please discuss
the “live”
qualities of
theatre with your
students before
attending a
performance at
the Alley Theatre.
THANK YOU!
What to Bring to the Theatre
T heatre is very public and it happens before a live audience. This
makes each performance as unique as the group of people who
gather as a community to see and hear it. In the theatre, the
audience affects the performance. An engaged, attentive and
enthusiastic audience will get a better performance from the cast and crew than
a disruptive audience. People play games, text, surf the Internet and watch
television in private. They can also stop and rewind a program or a clip if needed,
not so in the theatre. Therefore, there are different expectations of you and your
students when you step into a theatre.
So here are some general guidelines that anyone new to the theatre should know.
(Teachers don’t expect that all of your students will know this etiquette, so please
go over these common sense rules.)
All electronic devices must be turned off upon entering our theatre, especially
cell phones, portable gaming devices, and MP3 players. These items produce
noise that is distracting to others and interferes with our equipment. (IF
POSSIBLE, LEAVE BACKPACKS WITH CELLPHONES ON THE BUS OR LOCKED IN
THE CAR.)
The use of recording or photo equipment of any kind is not permitted in the
theatre before, during or after the performance.
Food and drink are never allowed in our theatre, even for the evening
performances.
Applause is used to acknowledge the performers and to voice appreciation or
approval. Dimming the lights on the stage and bringing up the house lights
usually signals intermission. A curtain call in which the cast returns to the
stage for bows follows a performance. Applause can erupt naturally from an
engaged audience: this is great.
We welcome genuine reactions to the work on stage. However,
conversations and discussions must wait until intermission or after the curtain
call.
Visiting the theatre should be an entertaining activity, but it is also one that
requires consideration for fellow audience members, as well as the actors on
stage.
Connections:
How is attending a play different from going to the movies?
How should you react to any loud noises during the play?
Why is it so important to not talk during a play? 6
What to bring to
the theatre:
RESPECT
CURIOSITY
QUESTIONS
WONDER
CONSIDERATION
OF OTHERS
What to leave behind:
CELL PHONES
FOOD
ATTITUDE
JUDGEMENT
DISRESPECT
OF OTHERS
7
INTRODUCTION: “The Dynamic Celebration of Joy”
You Can’t Take It
With You is
“something to be
prized. It is moon
struck … blessed
with all the
happiest lunacies
Moss Hart
and George S.
Kaufman have
been able to
contribute to it.”
— The New York Times
D escribed as “the season’s best comedy” by The New Yorker when it
premiered in 1936, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s You Can’t
Take It With You remains a theatrical gem. This Pulitzer Prize-winning
farce tells the story of the eclectic Sycamore family. Presided over by
Grandpa Martin Vanderhoof, who quit his job 35 years earlier to do as he pleases,
the Sycamores are far from typical.
Consisting of an amateur artist and playwright, a fumbling but passionate ballet
dancer and candy maker, a fledgling xylophone player, fireworks manufacturers
who concoct their experiments in the basement and an odd assemblage of guests
and strangers, the Sycamore household is in a perpetual state of controlled
pandemonium. Alice, the “sane” Sycamore, works on Wall Street and is engaged
to her boss’s son, Tony. When Tony and his conservative parents visit the
Sycamore home to meet the family on a particularly festive evening, sparks
literally fly.
Often considered the exemplar of Depression-era comedy in which “comic booby
traps” are cunningly set, You Can’t Take It With You is one of Hart and Kaufman’s
warmest plays (it was also the first farce to win the Pulitzer). As Kaufman once said
to his wife, the play asserts a simple point: “…the way to live and be happy is just
to go ahead and live, and not pay attention to the world.” These are surprisingly
optimistic thoughts even during unsteady economic and political times, but
considering that the play was written in the midst of the Great Depression and just
three years before the beginning of World War II, the positive sentiment is more
remarkable.
The show’s 837-performance run on Broadway and the accolades Kaufman and
Hart received for their work illustrated, according to writer Jerry L. Crawford, that
the uplifting tale about an eccentric family who manages to not only survive the
tumultuous depression, but to also enjoy their lives during it, appealed to
theatergoers. Eager to forget the bad news at home and the ever-increasing
threats from overseas, audiences found refuge in the spirited existence of the
Sycamore family.
America’s current financial and political landscapes are reminiscent of the era
during which Kaufman and Hart composed their jocular farce. As our economy
continues to strain and as wars loom over us, You Can’t Take It With You
continues to provide contemporary audiences with the affirmation that we can
also make it through these difficult times.
— Written by Amy Steele, Former Dramaturg, Alley Theatre (2004)
8
EXAMINE: The Proverb—You Can’t Take It With You
A proverb is an imperative or commanding statement designed to convey
wisdom about everyday living to a particular audience. It’s useful to know
proverbs because you hear them come up in conversation all the time.
Sometimes people say the entire proverb to give advice to a friend.
Learning proverbs can also help you to understand the way that people in certain
cultures think about the world.
The proverb, “You can't take it with you,” is often used in conversation. Some believe
it comes from the Bible and originates from Paul’s first letter to Timothy (I time 6:7)
“For we have brought nothing into the world, and so we cannot take anything out of
it. If we have food and covering with these we shall be content.”
But why do we use these quick and often glib easy phrases? They are a kind of
short-hand, a quick hit, or a symbolic way of saying an undeniable truth. In a few
words something complex is communicated. We have the Book of Proverbs, Chinese
proverbs; in fact, every culture has a collection of wise sayings that help guide life.
They are universal.
Connections:
1. Define and discuss what a proverb is in your class. Make a list of proverbs on the
board. If you need prompts use the list to the right.
In pair-shares discuss some real life situations where they might use one of these proverbs.
Discuss why they would use these in the situations that are listed.
2. Examine the proverb—“You can’t take it with you.”
In what kinds of current events situations might they hear this phrase?
Would they ever use this phrase?
What professions might use it?
Have they ever heard this phrase used at home?
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
"The pen is mightier than the
sword."
"When in Rome, do as the
Romans do."
"The squeaky wheel gets the
grease."
"When the going gets tough, the
tough get going."
"No man is an island."
"Fortune favors the bold."
"Hope for the best, but prepare
for the worst."
"Better late than never."
"Birds of a feather flock togeth-
er."
"There's no such thing as a free
lunch."
"There's no place like home."
"Discretion is the greater part of
valor."
"The early bird catches the worm."
"Never look a gift horse in the
mouth."
"You can't make an omelet with-
out breaking a few eggs."
"You can't always get what you
want."
"Cleanliness is next to godliness."
"A watched pot never boils."
"Beggars can't be choosers."
"Actions speak louder than
words."
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
9
M oss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961), one of the
two authors of You Can’t Take It With You, was the son of poor
English-born Jewish immigrants. Hart was born in New York City
and raised in both the Bronx and Brooklyn. Hart once described
the “dirt brown taste of poverty” when reminiscing about his
childhood. But armed with an endless wit and a passion for the transformative
experience of the theatre, he was able to rise above his own circumstances to
become a well-known and wealthy man.
But Hart’s transformation did not happen over night. After years of struggling to
work as a director of amateur theatrical groups and as an entertainment director
at summer resorts, Hart had his first Broadway hit with Once In a Lifetime. Like
You Can’t Take It With You, Lifetime was written in collaboration with George S.
Kaufman.
The original production of You Can’t Take It With You opened at the Booth
Theater on December 14, 1936. It won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is
today the most produced show written by Hart. It was adapted for film by director
Frank Capra and writer Robert Riskin in 1938. The film won the Best Picture Oscar,
while Capra won for Best Director.
Hart also wrote a memoir entitled, Act One: An Autobiography, which was
released in 1959 and adapted to film in 1963, (with George Hamilton portraying
Hart). As an author, Hart’s other theatrical hits include a play, The Man Who Came
to Dinner, a musical with composer Irving Berlin called As Thousands Cheer, and
Lady in the Dark, which was composed by Kurt Weill. As a director, Moss Hart had
his biggest hit with My Fair Lady, which ran for seven years and garnered him the
Tony Award for Best Director.
The last show Hart directed was the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot (1960).
During a very troubled and expensive out-of-town tryout (the show was then
running four hours long), Hart had a heart attack. The show opened before he fully
recovered, but he and Lerner reworked it after the opening. Thanks to the
revision, huge pre-sales, and a cast performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the very
expensive musical went on to be a hit. Hart married actress Kitty Carlisle in 1946
and the couple had two children. He died of a heart attack in 1961 at the age of
57.
ABOUT The playwrights: Moss Hart
10
“Theatre makes
possible, the
art of being
somebody else …
not a scrawny boy
with bad teeth, a
funny name …”
Moss Hart
ABOUT THE Playwrights: George S. Kaufman
G eorge S. Kaufman, like Moss Hart, was born to a Jewish family,
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Kaufman attended high school in
Pittsburgh (and law school for three months before becoming
disenchanted).
After a series of odd jobs, Kaufman began his career as a drama
critic and journalist. From 1917 to 1930 Kaufman was the drama editor for
The New York Times.
As an author, he had his debut on Broadway in 1918 with the melodrama
Someone in the House, which ran for only 32 performances. He wryly
suggested that the best way to avoid a crowd during the flu season was to see
his show.
From 1921 to 1958, at least one play or musical of his authorship ran on
Broadway. He wrote only one play alone, preferring the company of talented
co-authors and composers. Among his successes were shows crafted by teams
of writers including the Marx Brothers’ The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers.
Political satire was also one of his fortes, and earned him one of two Pulitzer
Prizes in 1932 for Of Thee I Sing. Other political satires included the hits Let ‘Em
Eat Cake and Strike Up the Band.
Anthony Kirby: This would be a fine country if we all
spent our time at the zoo and played the harmonica.
Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff: You used to play one
yourself; Tony said so. Maybe you ought to take it up
again. Maybe it’ll stop you trying to be so desperate
about making more money than you can ever use. You
can’t take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it?
As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with
you is the love of your friends.
— George S. Kaufman with Moss Hart , “You Can’t Take It With You”
11
A Mash-up: Context and Theme
12
Connections:
In small groups or pairs have students select a word they wonder about and actually look it up. Discuss any surprising applications for this word. Discuss the origin of the word Discuss as a class some of the vocabulary words and how they apply to today’s current events. Have students look at the Word Mash and pictures on page 13 and brainstorm what they think the play might be
about.
T ony Kirby: … It takes courage. You know everybody's afraid to
live.
Alice Sycamore: You ought to hear Grandpa on that subject. You
know he says most people nowadays are run by fear. Fear of what
they eat, fear of what they drink, fear of their jobs, their future, fear
of their health. They're scared to save money, and they're scared to
spend it. You know what his pet aversion is? The people who
commercialize on fear, you know they scare you to death so they
can sell you something you don't need. — You Can’t Take It With You
13
Exploration: Context and Theme
Connections:
Have your students look at the pictures and discuss how each of these images depicts something in their own life. Read the quote from the play and pair share about whether this quote from the 1930s still applies to today’s
current events. Discuss with your class how fear does or does not affect their choices.
Photo: Fibonacci Blue, 2013 Photo: Alan Cleaver, 2009 Photo: Andrea Gage, 2008
Photo: Feral78, 2012 Photo: photologue_np, 2011
Y ou Can’t Take It With You takes place during the Great Depression. And while You Can’t Take It With You is a lighthearted comedy, the context in which it takes place is quite serious.
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in 1930 and lasted until the late 1930s or middle 1940s. It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century.
In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the world's economy can decline. The depression originated in the U.S. after the fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929, and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday).
The Great Depression had devastating effects in countries rich and poor. Personal income , tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50 percent. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25 percent, and in some countries, rose as high as 33%.
Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60 percent. Facing plummeting demand with few alternate sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as cash cropping , mining, and logging suffered the most.
Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. In many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the end of World War II.
Connections:
Then and Now
The Great Recession of 2009 proved to be the second most disastrous global economic downturn since the Great Depression. Also known as The Lesser Depression, it was a marked global economic decline that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. Banks found themselves without cash, many businesses laid off their workers
and a crisis in the housing market began.
Was your family effected by this downturn? Your neighbors? If so, how?
Discuss where your family might go if they lost their home.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: The Great Depression
14
Migrant Mother, Dorothea Lange, 1936
More about this book
TIMELINE OF EVENTS: 1931-1939 1931
Bank panic - 305 banks closed in September, 522 shut down in October
Unemployment estimated between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000
First flight around the world by Wiley Post and Harold Gatty
Al Capone, convicted on income tax evasion, is sentenced to 11 years in prison
Japan invades Manchuria 1932
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected President and declares “New Deal” for America
Unemployment reaches 13,000,000; national wages 60 percent less than in 1929
An army of veterans seeking cash payments for their promised bonuses camp out in Washington; federal troops under General Douglas MacArthur
Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly across the Atlantic 1933
Prohibition of alcohol is repealed
Hitler seizes power in Germany
Organized labor boosts its membership, with the AFL having 4,000,000 members 1934
Drought hits Midwest worsens the situation that was caused by the Depression
First general strike in U.S. history in San Francisco 1935
Supreme Court declares that the government can’t legislate prices, wages, working conditions
Social Security Act is passed into law 1936
Dust Bowl
Roosevelt re-elected in a landslide despite opposition of 80 percent of nation’s press
Federal Theatre Project is founded under the Works Progress Administration 1937
Roosevelt proposes increasing the number of judges on the Supreme Court; measure fails
The Hindenburg, a dirigible explodes in Lakehurst, New Jersey
1938
Hitler annexes Austria
Wage and Hours Act passed: minimum wage for workers rose to 40 cents
A patent is issued for nylon 1939
Hitler seizes Czechoslovakia and invades Poland
World War II begins Scientists succeed in splitting uranium atoms.
television begins under commercial license 1940
Roosevelt re-elected to unprecedented third term
15 Photo: Margaret Bourke-White/public do-
P enelope Sycamore: Penny is the mother. She writes plays and paints as hobbies because it makes her happy. Penny is constantly concerned with the welfare of her family. Her main goal is to make
sure everyone is happy, particularly her daughter Alice.
Essie Carmichael: Wife of Ed, daughter of Penny and Paul Sycamore, As a hobby she makes candy that Ed sells. Essie dreams of being a ballerina. She has spent 8 years studying with Boris Kolenkhov. Rheba: The African-American maid and cook to the Sycamore family. She is treated almost like a part of the family. She is dating Donald.
Paul Sycamore: Father of Essie and Alice, husband of Penny, makes fireworks in the basement with the help of his assistant.
Mr. De Pinna: His hobby is playing with erector sets. Mr. De Pinna came inside to speak to Paul eight years ago and has never left.
Ed Carmichael: Husband of Essie. He is a xylophone player, and distributes Essie's candies. Ed is an amateur printer .
Donald: The African-American boyfriend of Rheba, who seems to serve as volunteer handyman for the Sycamores.
Martin Vanderhof: Grandpa in the play. He is an eccentric happy old man who has never paid his income tax because he doesn't believe in it, as he feels that the government wouldn't know what to do with the money if he paid it. He lives his life by the philosophy 'don't do anything that you're not going to enjoy doing'. He goes to circuses, commencements, throws darts, and collects stamps.
Alice Sycamore: Fiancée of Tony Kirby. She has an office job, and is rather embarrassed by the eccentricities of her family when she has Tony and his parents at her house, yet she still loves them. She tends to be a pessimist.
Wilbur C. Henderson: An employee of the IRS. He comes to collect the tax money owed by Grandpa.
Tony Kirby: Fiancé of Alice, Son of Mr. and Mrs. Kirby. He sees how, even though the Sycamores appear odd, they are really the perfect family because they love and care about each other. His own family is very proper and has many issues none of them will admit. He is vice president of Kirby and Co.
Boris Kolenkhov: A Russian who escaped to America shortly before the Russian Revolution. He is very concerned with world politics, and the deterioration of Russia. He is the ballet instructor of Essie. He likes the Greeks and the Romans, questions society, and is interested in world affairs.
Gay Wellington: An actress whom Mrs. Sycamore meets on a bus and invites home to read one of her plays.
Anthony P. Kirby: Husband of Mrs. Kirby, father of Tony. He is a very proper man who is president of Kirby and Co. and secretly despises his job. His hobby is raising expensive orchids.
Miriam Kirby: Wife of Mr. Kirby, mother of Tony. She is an extremely prim and proper woman and is horrified by the goings-on in the Sycamore household. Her hobby is spiritualism.
G-Man 1, G-Man 2 (Jim), G-Man 3 (Mac): Three agents who come to investigate Ed because of the communist quotes he prints up and places in Essie's candy boxes, such as "God is the State – the State is God".
The American Family: The Heart of the Play
15
The company in the Alley Theatre’s 2003 production of You Can’t Take It With You. Photo by Jim Caldwell.
CHARACTER STUDY: The Eccentric American Spirit
and the Pursuit of Happiness
M ost of the members of the Vanderhof-Sycamore clan revel in their eccentricity. This is frustrating to young Alice
Sycamore, who aspires to live in a family that will be socially acceptable to her beau, Tony Kirby, and his stuffy, wealthy
family. During the play, Alice’s family members embarrass her in the following ways:
Penny Sycamore, Alice’s mother, writes plays just because a “typewriter was delivered to the house by accident” several years
ago. Her area in the house is cluttered with a variety of unfinished plays. And she is learning to paint in the corner.
Penny’s husband Paul tinkers with explosives in the basement, and plays with erector sets.
Penny and Paul’s daughter Essie makes candy and studies ballet which she practices in the living room, though she is not very
good at either.
Essie’s husband Ed Carmichael plays the xylophone and enjoys working with a printing press.
But by far, the most eccentric member of the Vanderhof-Sycamore clan is Grandpa. Grandpa Vanderhof was a successful
businessman, but walked away from his job because he was unhappy. He prefers to fill his days attending college commencement
ceremonies and catching and raising snakes.
Juxtapose Grandpa Vanderhof’s willingness to pursue his own interest and happiness with Mr. Kirby’s aversion to anything that
might be even slightly pleasurable (in Act II, he remarks that “Lust is not a human emotion —I t is depraved”). Yet Grandpa
Vanderhof might have a point: “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.
Grandpa’s pursuit of happiness is bigger than eccentricity — it is connected to a very principled — and fundamentally American —
stance that he took as a young man. Eventually Grandpa’s argument for happiness is so compelling that even the rigid Mr. Kirby
eventually softens his stance and allows his Tony to marry Alice — because it will make both Alice and his son happy.
Ultimately, Hart and Kaufman show us that the “strange”
Vanderhof-Sycamores are more connected to what it means to be
an American than the upwardly mobile Kirbys.
Connections:
Do you consider yourself to be eccentric? What are some
hobbies, habits or interests that you have that might be
considered “strange” by members of your community?
Activities:
Go online and check out the “Weird News” section of the
Huffington Post or the Houston Chronicle. In groups discuss
why this particular piece of news has been classified as
“weird.” Is it a distinctly American story? Would people in
other parts of the world or different communities find it
“weird”?
TEKS Applications- Social Studies TEKS Applications- Fine Arts 17
1 2
3 4
Photos: 1. Warrenbrown Photography, 2009. 2. Byassa, 2012. 3. One Pointe Shoe
Done, 2012 High Techdad. 4. Photo of Allen Haulon and Adrian Rollin (1948), Library
of Congress.
T he writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that “America is another
name for opportunity.” For the American-born Sycamore-Vanderhof
clan, their home country has provided the opportunity and
resources to pursue their eccentric passions. But the landscape of
You Can’t Take It With You is also filled with characters who have
immigrated to America from other countries in search of opportunity. The Russian
dance instructor, Boris Kolenkhov, and Olga, a pre-Russian Revolution Grand
Duchess are both prominently featured.
Kolenkhov and Olga came to America fleeing the post-Russian Revolution
Communist tumult. Kolenkhov has carved out a comfortable niche for himself as
Essie’s dance instructor, but Olga struggles to make ends meet as a waitress. The
struggles of Olga and other deposed royal Russians are the source of much of the
play’s comedy in Act III. In Olga’s words:
“Ah, Kolenkhov, our time is coming. My sister, Natasha, is studying to become a
manicurist, Uncle Sergei they have promised to make floor walker, and next
month, I get transferred to the Fifth Avenue Childs.’ From there, it is only a step
to Schraffs.’”
Even though it is funny to hear a former royal get excited about the possibility of a
better waitressing job, Olga has fully bought into the American credo of
opportunity. She is willing to start from the bottom and carve her own path in life.
Furthermore, she strives with a smile on her face, another uniquely American
characteristic. The Sycamores even remark upon it themselves:
Grandpa: Wonderful what some people go through, isn’t it? And still keep kind
of gay, too.
Penny: M-m. She made me forget about everything for a minute.”
Penny’s “forgetfulness” is significant. You Can’t Take It With You glosses over
hardships in a humorous way, and is sometimes called a purely escapist play — or
a play that’s all about entertainment and not necessarily containing any deeper
meaning than what’s on the surface. What do you think — is this play escapist in
nature? Or does it use humor to make a discussion about serious topics more
palatable for general audiences?
Connections:
What kids of things do you do to “escape?” What kinds of things does our culture
do in 2013 that takes them away from uncomfortable topics? Do you tell stories or
crack jokes to steer conversations away from uncomfortable topics?
TEKS Applications- Social Studies
Opportunity and Escapism: The American Way
18
Buy this book
T he director of the Alley’s production of You Can’t Take It With You,
Sanford Robbins, has remarked that he admires the play because its
characters do not allow their “economic situation to determine their
lifestyle.” Put simply: your family may be poor, but you can still
enjoy a fun and robust life.
Yet, in You Can’t Take It With You, class is about more than economics — it is also
about culture. The upper-class Kirbys signify their status not by flaunting their
money but by acting with restraint and propriety. The Sycamores signal their
middle-class status through their openness and common tastes. All of these
tensions come to a head at the end of Act II in the following ways:
Upon entering the Sycamore home for the first time, Mrs. Kirby remarks that
it is “embarrassing.” She is the one who is presumably embarrassed by her
unexpected visit, but her disgust also stems from the disheveled state of the
Sycamores’ home.
While the Kirbys are a standard, nuclear family, the Sycamores’ “extended
family” includes other eccentrics like Gay, an drunk actress who is passed out
on the couch, Mr. DePinna, and Kolenkhov. The Kirbys are taken aback by all
of these strange people when they first meet them.
Mrs. Kirby is frightened by the Sycamores’ pet snakes, but Grandpa regards
them as normal family pets (like cats or dogs).
Penny offers the Kirbys canned salmon and frankfurters for dinner, processed
foods that are affordable for middle-class families. Mrs. Kirby is disgusted by
both options.
Kolenkhov and Penny ask Mr. Kirby questions about his stomach ulcers and
romantic life while he attempts to preserve an air of propriety.
Hart and Kaufman do a good job of “showing” and not “telling” the audience the
class distinctions between the Sycamores and Kirbys. Instead of having the families
discuss their differences in an explicit way, Hart and Kaufman give us insight into
each family’s socioeconomic status by revealing their particular cultural
preferences.
Connections:
How do people in 2013 signal (without explicitly mentioning wealth) their class
status? Is it by driving a certain car or wearing certain clothing brands? Have you
ever experienced a “class clash” with another person (or people)? How did you
resolve it?
TEKS Applications- Social Studies
Class clash: Tensions Between the Kirbys and the
Sycamores
19
The company in the Alley Theatre’s 2003 production of You
Can’t Take it With You. Photo by Jim Caldwell.
the original sitcom family: The Sycamores
and the Changing American Sitcom Family
Y ou Can’t Take It With You is an example of a situation comedy, or “sitcom.” We
most commonly associated sitcoms with contemporary television, but before the
advent of television in the 1950s, “sitcoms” occurred in the theater. The sitcom
features characters who share a common environment, like an office or home, with often
humorous circumstances. It has a storyline and quirky characters. The ingredients of
today’s television sitcoms, from certain character types, to pratfalls, routines and situations,
can also be found in You Can’t Take It With You.
According to Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor, the authors of Make ‘Em Laugh: The
Funny Business of America, You Can’t Take It With You is the “quintessential domestic
comedy,” exploring the comedic friction that arises when the eccentric Sycamores clash
with the well-heeled Kirbys. The play also “challenges,” the book continues, “the notion
that there is such a thing as a conventional American family upbringing.”
The depiction of the American family in sitcoms is often closely connected to the social and
political circumstances of the era. The socioeconomic clash depicted in You Can’t Take It
With You was a byproduct of the Great Depression, in which lines between the “haves” and
the “have-nots” were very starkly drawn. Sitcoms from the 1950s like Leave It To Beaver
and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet depicted prosperous, upper-middle class families,
reflecting America’s post-WWII financial prosperity.
Rapid social changes in the 1960s made the world complicated and confusing for many
Americans, and sitcoms depicting “country cousins” in fish-out-of water scenarios became
prevalent. Examples include: Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Green Acres.
Many of these “fish-out-of water” sitcoms continued to reflect the tensions between the
haves and the have-nots that originate with You Can’t Take It With You.
In the post-Civil Rights and feminist 1970s, viewers began to see sitcoms featuring African-
Americans and women, like Good Times and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The workplace-
centered Mary Tyler Moore Show also reflected another emerging trend in sitcoms: the
workplace wasn’t just a substitute for a family it was often a “preferable family.”
Sitcoms built around African-Americans and women continued to appear through out the
1980s and 1990s (The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air are notable examples),
and in 1998, Will & Grace showed openly gay men on television for the first time.
All of the trends discussed above have come into play in the contemporary sitcom Modern
Family, which currently airs on ABC. Modern Family expands and subverts the traditional
family to include step-parents, family members of multiple ethnicities, and an openly gay
couple with a child. Though we are many years removed from You Can’t Take It With You,
it continues to redefine the idea of an American family.
Connections:
Discuss the big issues affecting teens and families in 2013? Do they see these themeselves
depicted on television?
20 TEKS Applications- Social Studies
“Sitcoms should
provide enjoyment
for the audience,
through people
either empathizing
with these charac-
ters or thinking
they’re above these
characters and the
problems they’re
going through.”
- James Brooks, director,
producer and screenwriter
Cast photo from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Title screen from The Beverly Hillbillies
The Bill Cosby Show, NBC publicity photo, 1986
A Different World
All in the Family
Cheers
Dennis the Menace
Diff'rent Strokes
Everybody Loves Raymond
Family Affair
Family Matters
Family Ties
Father Knows Best
Full House
George Lopez
Get Smart
Gidget
Gilligan's Island
Gomer Pyle: USMC
Green Acres
Growing Pains
Happy Days
Hogan's Heroes
Home Improvement
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Leave It to Beaver
M*A*S*H
Ma and Pa Kettle
Mama's Family
Married with Children
McHale's Navy
Mork & Mindy
My Three Sons
My Wife and Kids
Perfect Strangers
Petticoat Junction
Reba
Roseanne
Sabrina, the Teenage
Witch
Sanford and Son
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell: The
New Class
Scooby Doo, Where Are
You!
Spin City
Taxi
That '70s Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
Comedy: The Essence of American Humor
Connections:
As a class discuss some sitcoms that they currently watch. Can your student define what makes it “funny.” Some prompts to ask your students:
Is it timing?
Is it physical?
Is it about people in difficult situations?
Is it about serious topics?
Is it funny poses and vocal choices?
Is it about funny faces?
Is it about entrances and exits?
Is it about being clever lines?
Defining funning can be elusive,. See if your students can make a list they can agree upon. Are some things more important than others? Can you come up with one defini-tion?
W hat is comedy? More specifically, what is American comedy? It’s
a question that seems easy to answer, but proves difficult to
explain.
In the book Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America hundreds of
different artists and comedians were asked this question. Some of those
interviewed don’t consider it a question worth asking. “Funny is funny. No
matter what language. No matter who says it.” While others refer to America’s
diversity and “our interaction with so many different cultures” trying to
“assimilate into the dominant culture.”
It is widely believed that humor is most defined by specific aspects of its
current and historical culture. Norman Lear points to a current cultural factor:
“Anywhere you look in America there’s a tremendous amount of excess, so of
course comics are working their hearts out to audiences who are demanding
louder, more vulgar, more interesting excess.”
Rooted in European traditions such as Comedia dell’arte, comedy in America
absorbed “home grown entertainment’ and created something “distinctly
American” in the Minstrel and Vaudeville shows of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. American comedy still continues to evolve all the while remaining a
fusion of cultural influences and forms.
In America, our humor is as diverse as our culture. “Each new arrival to our
shores absorbs the genre and adds to its complexion, evolution and tradition.”
21
B rothel — A place where men can visit prostitutes
Burlesque — A variety show, typically including striptease
Calling card — Card bearing a person’s name and address, sent
or left in lieu of a formal social or business visit
Communism — A political doctrine based on Marxian Socialism
that was the official ideology of the USSR
Czar — Emperor or king; former leadership of Russia
Dictate — To say or read aloud for another person to type, write down or
record on tape
Frankfurters — Seasoned smoked sausages typically made of beef and pork
Gaiety — The state of being merry or cheerful
Helen of Troy — In Greek Mythology, the beautiful daughter of Zeus and
Leda and wife of Menelaus; abducted by Paris, which caused the Trojan War
Indicted — Formally accused or charged with a serious crime
Monastery — A house for persons, especially monks or nuns, living under
religious vows
Pesetos — The former basic monetary unit of Spain (replaced by the euro)
Russian Revolution — The 1917 uprising and eventual overthrow of the
government which put the Bolsheviks (or Communists) into power
Mrs. Roosevelt — (Anna) Eleanor Roosevelt; a US diplomat, author, lecturer
and wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Securities Commission — Government agency responsible for financial
regulation of securities products like stocks, bonds and other notes
representing financial value
Solace — Comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness
Spiritualism — A system of belief or religious practice based on supposed
communication with the spirits of the dead, especially through mediums
Stalin — Joseph Stalin; the general secretary of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union from 1922-53, perhaps best known for His ruthless leadership
Trapeze — A short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a
support, commonly found in circus performances
Trotsky — Leon Trotsky, a Russian revolutionary and writer.
Terms You Should Know
TEKS Applications- Social Studies TEKS Applications- Fine Arts 22
Library of Congress Collection
Russian Revolution, 1917.
Trapeze, Kevin Jones, 2008
TEKS Applications- English Language & Reading
Reflections
A fter viewing the Alley Theatre’s production of You Can’t Take It
With You, we encourage you and your students to record your
expectations and reactions to the play.
Here are some ideas for written reflections:
What parts of the play did you enjoy and why? What are some specific
lines you enjoyed and why?
How would you have performed one of the roles? What draws you to
that character?
Has your perspective about what constitutes an American family
changed?
Do you agree with the choices of the director and designers? What
would you have done differently?
Activity:
Consider having students write reviews of You Can’t Take It With You. Make
sure to include technical aspects such as sound and costumes, as well as
specific notes on acting, plot, and the overall experience of the production.
For more information on writing a review, please visit
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlayReview.html
Please email any theatre-related reviews, poems, scenes and essays by your
students to [email protected].
“Dramatic conventions offer a safe harbor for trying out the situations
for life; for experimenting with expression and communication; and for
deepening human understanding.” — James Catterall, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, Department of Education
Photo: Dr. Mitra Ray, 2011
23
To learn more about the Alley Theatre Education programs,
visit alleytheatre.org/Education.
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