You Can‘t Take It With You
Sunday March 8 at 6:00pm
Performances May 1-10, 2020
Characters –
Penelope “Penny” Sycamore Age: 40 and up She writes plays and paints as hobbies because it makes her happy, but is terrible at both. Penny is a loving mother and wife and is constantly concerned with the welfare of her family. Her main goal is to make sure everyone is happy, particularly her daughter Alice.
Paul Sycamore Age: 40 and up He is a Tinker who manufactures fireworks in the basement with the help of his assistant Mr. De Pinna. His hobby is playing with erector sets.
Martin “Grandpa” Vanderhof Age: 65 and up 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 for it. He lives his life by the philosophy: “Don’t do anything that you’re not going to enjoy doing.”
Alice Sycamore Age: 20 and up Fiancé of Tony Kirby. She the only “normal” family member. 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.
Tony Kirby Age: 20 and up Fiancé of Alice. He sees how, even though the Sycamores appear odd, they are really the perfect family because they love and care about each other.
Anthony W. Kirby Age: 45 and up. 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 Age: 45 and up. She is an extremely prim and proper woman and is horrified by the goings-on in the Sycamore household. Her hobby is spiritualism.
Essie Carmichael Age: 25 and up She is childlike. As a hobby she makes candy that Ed sells. Essie dreams of being a ballerina. She has spent 8 years studying with Boris Kolenkhov, but is a terrible dancer.
Ed Carmichael Age: 25 and up. He is a xylophone player, and distributes Essie’s candies. Ed is an amateur printer who prints anything that sounds good to him. He prints little quotes that he places in the boxes of Essie’s candy.
Boris Kolenkhov Age: 30 and up. 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, aware that she is untalented at dancing, but knows that she enjoys dancing so he keeps working with her.
Mr. De Pinna Age: 30 and up The iceman who came inside to speak to Paul five years before, and never left. He helps Mr. Sycamore build fireworks, and moonlights as a model in Mrs. Sycamore’s paintings. He is a nutty guy.
Rheba Age: 25 and up The maid and cook to the Sycamore family. She is dating Donald. She is onstage a lot, but doesn’t necessarily say anything.
Donald Age: 25 and up The boyfriend of Rheba, who seems to serve as volunteer handyman for the Sycamores. In the words of Mrs. Sycamore, “The two of them are really cute together.”
Wilbur C. Henderson Age: 25 and up An employee of the IRS. He comes to collect the tax money owed by Grandpa, and can’t understand why the latter won’t pay income tax.
The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina Age: 40 and up She was one of the Grand Duchesses of Russia before the Revolution, another being her sister, the Grand Duchess Natasha. Since then she has been forced to flee to America where she has found work as a waitress in Childs Restaurant. The rest of her family has had a similar fate, such as her Uncle Sergei, the Grand Duke, who is now an elevator man. She loves to cook as a hobby.
Gay Wellington Age: 25 and up An actress whom Mrs. Sycamore meets on a bus and invites home to read one of her plays. She is an alcoholic, gets very drunk and passes out shortly after arriving at the Sycamore’s home.
G-Men “The Man” , “Jim” “Mac” Three agents who come to investigate Ed because of the communist things he prints up, such as “God is the State – the State is God”.