You Cant Take It With You By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman

Characters:

Penelope Sycamore	Has been writing plays for the past 8 years because a typewriter was delivered by accident
Mr/Mrs. Kirby	Tony’s parents who are more normal than the Sycamores but crazy in their own way
Essie Charmichael	The Sycamore’s eldest daughter who loves to dance, wears ballet slippers the entire play
Paul Sycamore	Alice’s father, makes fire crackers
Mr. DePinna	Helps in the fire cracker making
Ed Carmichael	Plays the saxophone throughout the play
Donald
Martin Vanderhof
Alice Sycamore	Seemed to have escaped the tinge of mild insanity that pervades the rest of them

Time:	1936
Setting:	New York City, Martin Venderhof’s home
Mode:	Realism
Form:	Comedy

Themes: -      Modern- dysfunctional family, icons of Americanism, character relationships over plot; naturalism, impressionism -      American- icons: firecrackers, fourth of July, income tax, Wall Street, character driven, belonging -      Belonging- Alice complains that she belongs to her family and doesn’t want to leave the quirkiness but then in the end complains that she doesn’t want to be a part of their quirkiness

Plot:

Tony Kirby and Alice Sycamore are in love, but when their families meet it is disastrous- they all get sent to jail on the account of fireworks without a license and because Alice’s father hasn’t paid income taxes in 21 years.

Quotes:

Grandpa	Oh, the world’s not so crazy, Kolenkhov. It’s the people in it. Life’s pretty simple if you just relax… Life is kind of beautiful if you let it come to you. But the trouble is, people forget that
Alice	I love them deeply. Some people could break away, but I couldn’t. I know they do rather strange things… But they’re gay and they’re fun… I don’t know… There’s a kind of nobility about them
Kolenkhov	Art is only achieved through perspiration
Grandpa	Alice you’re in love with this boy, and you’re not marrying him because we’re the kind of people we are
Alice	Oh I wish I lived in a family that didn’t always forget everything. That-that behaved the way other people’s families do… Why can’t we be like other people?

Notes:

Entire family is sarcastic, complete dysfunctional family meets other dysfunctional family

Playwright:

Born: H- 1904, K-1889 Died: H-1961, K-1961 Year Written: 1936

Bio: After being the drama editor for the New York Times for a decade, Kaufman began his hand at playwriting. Kaufman collaborated with several other partners and was well known for his witty one-liners. He directed, wrote and collaborated on many productions, movies and musicals. He married Beatrice Bakrow in 1917 and after she died in 1945, married Leueen MacGrath in 1949, which led to a divorce in 1957. Hart’s first play was produced in 1923 to horrible, horrible reviews. As an office manager, for the same theater, Hart’s boss fired him for loosing $45,000 in the production. He collaborated with Kaufman and several others. Hart won a Tony for his direction of My Fair Lady in 1957.  He married Kitty Carlisle in 1946 and had two children. You Cant Take It With You: Pulitzer Prize in 1937, Best Picture Oscar in 1938 and Best Director ( Frank Capra)

Other Work:

1930	H & K: Once in a Lifetime- Broadway debut	1918	K: Someone in the House- Broadway debut
1932	H: Face the Music	1922	K: Merton of the Movies
1933	H: As Thousands Cheer	1924	K: Beggar on Horseback
1934	H & K: Merrily We Roll Along	1925	K: The Butter and the Egg Man (only play Kaufman wrote alone)
1937	H & K: I’d Rather Be Right	1929	K: June Moon
1939	H & K: The Man Who Came to Dinner	1927	K: The Royal Family
1940	H & K: George Washington Slept Here (their last play together)	1930	K & H: Once in a Lifetime
1941	H: Lady in the Dark	1934	K: Of Thee I Sing- Pulitzer Prize
1943	H: Winged Victory	1935	K & H: Merrily We Roll Along
1944	H: Dear Ruth	1939	K: First Lady
1944	H: Winged Victory- screenplay	1937	K & H: The Man Who Came to Dinner
1946	H: Christopher Blake	1940	K & H: I’d Rather Be Right
1947	H: The Gentleman’s Agreement- screenplay, Oscar nomination	1940	K & H: George Washington Slept Here (their last play together)
1948	H: Light Up the Sky		K: Merton of the Movies
1952	H: Hans Christian Anderson- screenplay		K: Dulcy
1954	H: A Star is Born- screenplay		K: Beggar on Horseback
1959	H: Act One- an autobiography		K: June Moon
	H & K: Once in A Lifetime		H & K: Once in A Lifetime