MoCo Arts is excited to present the cinematic classic, and profoundly popular comedic play, You Can’t Take It with You on Friday, May 17th at 7pm and Saturday, May 18th at 2pm in The Founder’s Theatre at MoCo Arts. The Pulitzer Prize winning play first premiered on Broadway in 1936 and was adapted for the big screen in 1938 with the release of the romantic comedy of the same name starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur. It is a comedy in three acts by playwrights George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and is being directed by Peterborough Players actors Bridget Beirne and Tom Frey, who joined MoCo Arts in the Fall of 2018 when they came on board to direct the MoCo Arts High School play Our Town.
“Playwrights Kaufmann and Hart threw everything comedically they could at this play. From farce to slapstick, wordplay to sight gags and sit com, You Can’t Take It with You is a perfect vehicle for comedic technique,” says Co-Director of MoCo Arts’ High School Play, Tom Frey. “It endures because at the heart of it the authors are asking the question, ‘What happens when we choose to live our lives according to our own desires, rather than other peoples’ expectations?’” A thoughtful question that Tom asks students to consider during rehearsal.
As the story plays out, we see how Tony, attractive young son of the unhappy Kirby’s, falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore home. The shock sustained by the Kirby’s shows Alice that marriage with Tony is out of the question. Meantime, Tony, who knows the Sycamores are right and his own people wrong, will not give her up, and madness ensues! Not to mention the strange activities of certain members of the household engaged with the manufacture of fireworks, or of the ex-Grand Duchess, earning her living as a waitress, the printing press set up in the parlor, Grandpa’s interview with the tax collector, and more outrageous events.
“While comedy and drama are obviously different, the acting technique behind the playing of both comes from the same place,” says Bridget Beirne, who is co-directing the play. “We wanted to continue to work with our actors on the idea that their performances must still be rooted in honesty, no matter the situation their characters are in. If it isn’t true, it isn’t funny!”
A timeless classic, and one of the most popular and successful plays of modern times, You Can’t Take It with You will delight audiences of all ages. Tickets are $14 for general admission and can be purchased at MoCo Arts, 40 Roxbury Street in Keene, or by calling (603) 357-2100.
