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 education@alleytheatre.org.

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 education@alleytheatre.org.

“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.