Taking the audience on a journey of self-discovery, the fall play “You Can’t Take It with You” confronts issues of adolescents making their own decisions for the first time.
The play, which premiered on Nov. 5, portrayed a forbidden love like that of Romeo and Juliet, but these lovers ended up together.
Junior Annie Klups played Alice Sycamore, part of a crazy middle-class family.
Her character fell in love with Tony Kirby, a member of a wealthy upper-class family played by Miles Ramsdell-Ray.
Nancy Martin, the play’s director, said, “The moral of the story is [that] people should accept each other for who they are, not for who they should be.”
There are many situations in life that are unexpected, like those of the Sycamore and Kirby families. Martin said, “The play is about two families who come together [through] their kids, who fall in love with each other but are total opposites of one another.
Klups said, “I play as Alice Sycamore, the only ‘normal’ one in the family. Everyone else in the family has a somewhat crazy side to them. Because of this, [my character] had to overcome difficult conflict, but she learns that family is as important as love in this play.”
There are many students who have had to make a difficult, life-changing decision.
Sophomore Sophie Clark, who plays Penny Sycamore’s maid Rheba, said, “I had to quit basketball for drama because I want to pursue my career as an actress. Basketball season and the fall play conflicted with each other and I have to commit to one or the other. It was a hard decision, but I chose my career over my hobby.”
This fall, Clark is enjoying participating fully in “You Can’t Take It with You.” She said, “My favorite part of the play was when the character Tony Kirby brings his parents to Alice Sycamore’s house a day earlier than planned. [They] enter at the weirdest moment to show his parents who the Sycamore family really are.”
