You Can't Take It with You

About the show

The story takes place entirely in the home of the Sycamores, a slightly odd New York City family. Grandpa Vanderhof, the family patriarch, is a whimsical old man who keeps pet snakes and hasn’t worked a day in thirty-five years. His daughter, Penny, is a writer of racy melodrama plays. Penny’s husband, Paul Sycamore, manufactures fireworks in the basement with the help of his assistant, Mr. De Pinna, who used to be the family's iceman. Paul and Penny have two daughters: Essie, a candy maker who dreams of being a ballerina, even though she is a terrible dancer, and Alice, an office worker who is relatively “normal” compared to the rest of the family. Also living in the house are Essie’s husband Ed Carmichael, the family’s maid Rheba, and her boyfriend Donald, who works as the family’s handyman. Essie tells Grandpa that some letters have arrived for him from the United States Government, but that she misplaced them. Shortly afterwards, Alice comes home and announces that she has fallen in love with Tony Kirby, vice-president of Kirby & Co. and the son of her boss. Alice tells her family that Tony will be coming over shortly to take her on a date and goes upstairs to change clothes. The doorbell rings. Penny answers the door and greets the visitor, thinking he must be Tony. The man at the door clarifies that his name is Wilbur C. Henderson, and he is investigating Grandpa for his evasion of income tax for the last twenty-four years. Grandpa refuses to pay, stating he never believed in it, and that the government would not know what to do with the money if he did pay it, angering Henderson. Henderson spots Grandpa's pet snakes and flees the house in fear, but not before promising Grandpa that he will be hearing from the United States government. The real Tony Kirby arrives, and Alice is nervous that her family will scare him away. As they attempt to leave for their date, Mr. Boris Kolenkhov, Essie's eccentric Russian ballet instructor, arrives and complains to the family about the Revolution. During this discussion, Alice and Tony make their escape. The rest of the family sit down for dinner. Later that night, Tony and Alice return to Sycamore house. They are deeply in love, but Tony’s attempts to propose are repeatedly interrupted by the various members of the family. Finally, Tony and Alice become engaged to marry. Several days later, Alice has invited Tony and his parents over for dinner the next evening. Alice implores her family to act as normal as possible to make a good impression. Penny has brought actress Gay Wellington over to read over her latest play, but Gay becomes very drunk and passes out on the living room couch. Essie asks Ed to help deliver her candies around the neighborhood, but he is reluctant as he believes he was followed the last time. Mr. De Pinna comes up from the cellar carrying a painting that Penny had started of him as a discus thrower. He asks Penny to finish it and she agrees. She puts on her painting smock and Mr. De Pinna puts on a toga costume. Mr. Kolenkhov arrives and begins Essie's ballet lesson. Ed provides accompanying music on the xylophone. Rheba runs in and out of the kitchen cleaning. In the midst of the chaos, Tony, having forgotten for which night the dinner was planned, appears in the doorway with Mr. and Mrs. Kirby. Alice is incredibly embarrassed. Penny tells Alice not to worry, and insists that the Kirbys stay for dinner. Grandpa tries to keep the party under control for the sake of his granddaughter. Mr. Kirby, a straitlaced businessman, is unamused by Paul’s childish interests. Mrs. Kirby mentions her passion for spiritualism, which Penny derides. During a discussion of hobbies, Mr. Kolenkhov brings up that the Romans' hobby was wrestling, and demonstrates by throwing Mr. Kirby to the floor, angering him. To break the tension, Penny suggests they play a free association game and instructs everyone to write down "the first thing that pops into their heads" after she says certain words. The game seems to lighten the mood at first, but soon sparks an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Kirby after her answers reveal dissatisfaction with their sex life due to Mr. Kirby’s preoccupation with his work. Mr. and Mrs. Kirby order Tony to leave with them immediately, but he refuses. A humiliated Alice decides that their marriage will never work as their families are too different. She ends their engagement and resigns from her job. Before the Kirbys can leave, a group of government agents raid the house. The head G-man tells them that they are all under arrest, and reveals that Ed's notes from the candy boxes, on which he has printed anything that "sounds nice", have threatening and communist phrases written on them such as "DYNAMITE THE CAPITOL" and "GOD IS THE STATE, THE STATE IS GOD". The agents drag Mr. De Pinna out of the basement and report the discovery of massive amounts of gunpowder to the head G-man. De Pinna tries to explain to the agent that he has left his lit pipe downstairs, but is ignored. Another agent brings down the deliriously drunk Gay Wellington from upstairs. The fireworks in the basement go off, lit by the untended pipe, and everyone panics, leaving the whole house in an uproar. The next day, Donald and Rheba sit in the kitchen reading the paper, where the arrests have made headlines because of Mr. Kirby's presence. Both families have been released after spending the night in jail. A distraught Alice has decided to leave for a prolonged trip to the Adirondack Mountains to think things over. When the family forgets to call for a cab, she finally loses her temper, angered that her family cannot be "normal" at all. Tony arrives and tries to reason with Alice, but she refuses him. Mr. Kolenkhov appears with the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina. After discussing the sad fate of former Russian royalty now working menial jobs in New York, the Grand Duchess insists upon going into the kitchen to cook the dinner for the family. Mr. Kirby arrives to pick up Tony, and they get into a heated argument. Tony reveals that he had purposely brought his parents on the wrong night because he wanted his parents to see the Sycamores authentically. He expresses admiration for the love the Sycamores have for one another compared to his emotionally distant father. Grandpa tells Mr. Kirby that he is happy not to be working and posits that Mr. Kirby doesn’t really enjoy his Wall Street job. Tony admits that he found letters Mr. Kirby had written to his own father, expressing desires to be a trapeze artist and later a saxophone player. Grandpa tells Mr. Kirby that he should enjoy his life while he can. Tony agrees, deciding to leave the family business to find his own path in life, and Mr. Kirby finally gives in, giving his blessing to Alice and Tony’s engagement, which Alice accepts. Essie brings another letter to Grandpa from the government stating that he no longer owes them income tax. Grandpa reveals that he had tricked the IRS by claiming he was Martin Vanderhof Jr., and that the Martin Vanderhof they were looking for was his deceased father. This is corroborated because the milkman, who had lived with them prior to Mr. De Pinna, was buried under Grandpa’s name since the family never knew his real name. The play comes to a conclusion as the family, along with Tony and Mr. Kirby, sit down to dinner with the Grand Duchess. Grandpa says a touching prayer, and then they dive into the food.