You Can't Take It with You (play)
| You Can't Take It with You | |
|---|---|
| Written by |
George S. Kaufman Moss Hart |
| Characters | Alice Sycamore Anthony Kirby Boris Kolenkhov Donald Ed Carmichael Essie Carmichael G-Men (FBI Agents) Gay Wellington Martin Vanderhof Miriam Kirby Mr. De Pinna Paul Sycamore Penelope Sycamore Rheba The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina Tony Kirby Wilbur C. Henderson |
| Date premiered | 14 December 1936 |
| Place premiered |
Booth Theatre New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | New York City at the home of Martin Vanderhof, 1936 |
You Can't Take It with You is a comedic play in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The original production of the play premiered on Broadway in 1936, and played for 838 performances.
The play won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was adapted for the screen as You Can't Take It with You, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director.
The story takes place entirely in the large house of a slightly batty New York City family. Various characters in the lives of the Vanderhof-Sycamore-Carmichael clan are introduced in the first act.
The patriarch of the family, Grandpa Vanderhof, an eccentric old man who keeps snakes and has never paid his income tax. Penelope "Penny" Vanderhof Sycamore is his daughter (a writer of adventure- and sex-filled melodrama plays), who is married to Paul Sycamore, a tinkerer who manufactures fireworks in the basement with the help of his assistant Mr. De Pinna, who used to be the family's iceman. One of Paul and Penny's two daughters is Essie Sycamore Carmichael, a childish candymaker who dreams of being a ballerina (but in reality is terrible at dancing). Essie is married to Ed Carmichael, a xylophone player who lives with them and helps distribute Essie's candies. Ed is an amateur printer who prints any phrase that sounds catchy. Paul and Penny's other daughter Alice Sycamore is quite obviously the only "normal" family member. She has an office job and is sometimes embarrassed by the eccentricities of her family, yet deep down, she still loves them. In addition, the Vanderhof-Sycamore-Carmichael clan employs a maid Rheba, who is dating Donald, who performs odd jobs for the Sycamores.
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