Moss Hart and George Kaufman’s zany comedy, You Can’t Take It with You, opened on Friday November 4 and Saturday November 5 at 8:00 p.m. in Walton Auditorium.

The audience couldn't stop laughing. “This is the best performance I’ve ever seen on a George School stage—and I’ve seen many,” said one audience member. “The message about inclusion was as relevant today as it was when it was first written,” said another.

This zany, Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway comedy is the story of the Sycamore family, presided over by Grandpa Vanderhoff. At the Sycamores, everyone does just what he or she pleases. Writing plays, building fireworks, making candy, playing the xylophone, and running an old printing press are just a few of the normal household activities.

Soon a conflict unfolds. Alice Sycamore, the family’s “normal” daughter, is in love with wealthy Tony Kirby—her boss’s son and company vice president. When the stuffy, aristocratic Kirbys come to the Sycamores for dinner, the event is a disaster. Combined with calamity in the kitchen, the antics of a Russian ballet master, and a parlor game gone bad, the evening reaches catastrophic proportions that are capped off with the arrival of the FBI and everyone being hauled off to jail.

“It is almost a tradition at George School to kick off the year with a comedy with some meat on it,” said Maureen West. “Our comedy last year was the Egg and I in which we explored family dynamics. With You Can’t Take It with You, we explore acceptance during the 1930s and just how ahead of their time the Sycamores really were. It is a sweet love story and is about the idea of embracing the joy of life.”

“This play is definitely about how eccentric families can be, but it highlights the fact that no matter what kind of family you came from, you love them unconditionally and you will leave this play realizing that. It’s definitely a show that is worth seeing,” said student director Irene Mutiganzi ’12 of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania United Republic. “Come for a good laugh! We have the most talented cast ever.”

Jake Kaplan ’12, of Ewing, New Jersey, has enjoyed the challenge of playing the normal Tony Kirby against the backdrop of the hilarious Sycamore family. “I’ve learned more about myself as Jake by understanding the Kirby family,” said Jake. “The play helps you understand your family and be who you want to be.”

“The play is so much fun and everyone will find it easy to relate to,” said Sabrina Schell ’12 of Newtown, Pennsylvania, who plays Alice Sycamore. “Everyone has a family and everyone thinks their family is a little bit crazy.”

Dan Hoskins ’12, from Newtown, Pennsylvania, plays Alice’s father Paul Sycamore, a tinkerer whose hobby is playing with erector sets. “He is a creative guy who manufactures fireworks for a living,” says Dan. “His childlike exuberance makes it challenging to show more serious emotions and still remain in character.”

Mrs. Kirby, played by Mady McMahon ’12 of Newtown, Pennsylvania, has few speaking lines. “She communicates mostly with her body and how she carries herself,” said Mady, who credits her acting experience for making her more self-confident on and off the stage.

“The set design was challenging because the play clearly required features that seemed unlikely in a residence on the upper west side of Manhattan. We needed a kitchen, a basement, stairs to a bedroom level, and a front door,” said Stagecraft teacher Scott Hoskins. “Designing it became an exercise of putting the pieces together into a reasonably coherent living room. The environment is 'naturalistic', and one of our goals was to make it look plausibly like a lived-in house.”

Scott likes the message of You Can’t Take It with You most of all. “The play points out that we don't necessarily have to do those things that we do well, but rather we can choose to do those things that we love,” said Scott. “Each of the characters is pursuing his or her passion, and that's worth contemplating.”

“Overall the play is about people’s differences and about accepting them,” said Maureen. “I think that’s what George School is about.”

As Grandpa says, "Why not do what you want to do? After all – you can’t take it with you!"

You Can’t Take It with You is one of eight performances organized by the George School Arts Department for the 2011-12 year.