A Study Guide for Educators

Transcription

1 Pacific Conservatory Theatre Student Matinee Program Presents By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman A Study Guide for Educators Generously sponsored by Richard and Jean Jacoby Ron and Mary Nanning

2 Welcome to PCPA A NOTE TO THE TEACHER Thank you for bringing your students to PCPA. Here are some helpful hints for your visit to the Marian Theatre. The top priority of our staff is to provide an enjoyable day of live theatre for you and your students. Use the study guide to prepare your students prior to the performance. Each study guide has grade level notations that will help you navigate to material you can use in your curriculum. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ETIQUETTE Note-able behavior is a vital part of theater for youth. Going to the theater is not a casual event. It is a special occasion. If students are prepared properly, it will be a memorable, educational experience for all. 1. Have students enter the theater in a single file. We suggest you have one adult for every ten to fifteen students. Our ushers will assist you with locating your seats. Please wait until the usher has seated your party before any rearranging of seats to avoid injury and confusion. While seated, teachers should space themselves so they are visible, between every ten to fifteen students. Teachers and adults must remain with their group during the entire performance. 2. Once seated in the theater, students may go to the bathroom in small groups and with the teacher s permission. Please chaperone younger students. Once the show is over, please have students remain seated until the lead instructor / chaperone dismisses your students. 3. Please remind your students that we do not permit: food, gum, drinks, backpacks or large purses disruptive talking. disorderly and inappropriate behavior (stepping on/over seats, throwing objects, etc.) cameras, radios, cell phones, audio recorders, electronics games or toys. (Adults are asked to put cell phones on silent or vibrate.) In cases of disorderly behavior, groups may be asked to leave the theater without ticket refunds. 2

3 4. Teachers should take time to remind students before attending the show of the following about a live performance: Sometimes we forget when we come into a theatre that we are one of the most important parts of the production. Without an audience there would be no performance. Your contribution of laughter, quiet attention and applause is part of the play. When we watch movies or television we are watching images on a screen, and what we say or do cannot affect them. In the theatre the actors are real people who are present and creating an experience with us at that very moment. They see and hear us and are sensitive to our response. They know how we feel about the play by how we watch and listen. An invisible bond is formed between actors and a good audience, and it enables the actors to do their best for you. A good audience helps make a good performance. 5. Photographs and / or recording of any kind is forbidden in our theatre. However, there will be a very special Photo Opportunity display for you and your students in our lobby. Feel free to take as many pictures in our selfie corner as you d like. The Education and Outreach department of PCPA welcomes you as a partner in the live theatre experience from the moment you take your seats. We hope that your visit will be a highlight of your school year. Chad Sommervill as Tony Kirby, George Walker (back) as Ed, Madison Shaheen (right) as Alice and Karin Hendricks as Essie. 3

4 HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE The Study Guide is a companion piece designed to explore many ideas depicted in the stage production of You Can t Take It With You. Although the guide's intent is to enhance the student's theatrical experience, it can also be used as an introduction to the elements of a play, and the production elements involved in the play's presentation. This specific stage adaptation presents a wealth of new questions for this generation to answer. The guide has been organized into three major sections: Elements of the story Elements of production Activities Teachers and group leaders will want to select portions of the guide for their specific usage. Discussion questions are meant to provoke a line of thought about a particular topic. The answers to the discussion questions in many instances will initiate the process of exploration and discovery of varied interpretations by everyone involved. This can be as rewarding as the wonderful experience of sight and sound that You Can t Take It With You creates on-stage. George Walker as Ed and Karin Hendricks as Essie 4

5 Creative Team and The Cast of You Can t Take It With You By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman Director Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Stage Manager Roger DeLaurier Jason Bolen Eddy L. Barrows Tim Thistleton Andrew Mark Wilhelm Ellen Beltramo* The Cast PENELOPE SYCAMORE...Polly Firestone Walker ESSIE...Karin Hendricks RHEBA...Bianca Norwood PAUL SYCAMORE...Don Stewart* MR. DE PINNA...Tyler Campbell ED...George Walker DONALD...Iven Webster MARTIN VANDERHOF...Peter Hadres* ALICE...Madison Shaheen HENDERSON... Myles Romo TONY KIRBY... Chad Sommerville BORIS KOLENKHOV...Andrew Philpot* GAY WELLINGTON... Katie Wackowski MR. KIRBY...Brad Carroll MRS. KIRBY...Kitty Balay* THE MAN...Jerik Fernandez MAC...Quincy Van Steenberge JIM...Johnny Davison OLGA... Maya Sherer *Member, Actors' Equity Association 5

6 ELEMENTS OF THE STORY Synopsis of the Production At the center of our play, is The Vanderhof family. The family members are a variety of happy and spontaneous, sometimes incompetent (yet lovable) characters. Grandpa, Martin Vanderhof, is the head of the house hold. He is the philosophical patriarch of this erratic family and a man that seems to have found the meaning of true happiness. He has also been at odds with the Internal Revenue Service for years. His daughter, Penelope Sycamore is a want to be playwright, and her husband Paul is a fireworks maker and works out of the cellar. Penelope and Paul s daughters and son-inlaw are Essie Carmichael who studies ballet in the living room, and her husband Ed who has a passion for the printing presses and xylophones, which he manages simultaneously. Alice is the youngest daughter, and may be the only normal character in the house. Alice works on Wall Street as a secretary for the financier Mr. Kirby. Alice s boyfriend, Tony Kirby (her bosses son), is the complete opposite of Alice s family. He is a successful businessman with a conservative education. Though, he is from a different walk of life, Tony truly likes Alice s family and is head over heals in love with Alice in spite of her eccentric family. Alice, is much more uncertain about the match, as she never knows what to expect with the extreme differences between her home life and Tony s. Naturally, when Tony proposes marriage, Alice has her misgivings, but is very much in love and soon the couple are engaged. With some resistance from Alice, the two agree to have a dinner for Tony s parents to meet the Vanderhof family. Alice, reasons with her family to temper their daily activities on the night of the dinner, to insure that they do not overwhelm Tony s parents with the household shenanigans. Her family happily agree to Alice s request, for normalcy when the Kirbys come for dinner. But as is standard in the Vanderhof house hold, nothing goes according to plans. The Kirbys mistakenly arrive to dinner a day early. And the Vanderhof clan, are carrying on a usual, not quite reserved and behaved as planned. Alice s worst fears begin to surface as the The Kirbys, are whirled into the crazy antics of the Vanderhof routine. Naturally, they are shocked and appalled by the untamed lifestyles of the Vanderhofs, which unexpectedly results in a police raid of the house, and the arrest of everyone present including the Kirbys. Convinced that the two families will never get along, Alice, decides to leave; but Tony, does not agree. He is determined to marry Alice and tells her that he brought his parents to the party a night early on purpose. In hopes that they might see what a real family is like, in a home filled with love. Angry with his son, Mr. Kirby is appalled that Tony would want to marry into such a family. But Tony is determined to marry Alice. Seeing how the events have lead to heartbreak and hopelessness, Grandpa has a talk with Mr. Kirby, and helps him to understand the true importance in one s life can be found in the fun and happiness of those you love. That is the key to a successful life. You ve got all the money you need. You can t take it with you.... And what s it got you? Same kind of mail every morning, same kind of deals, same kind of meetings, same dinners at night, same indigestion. Where does the fun come in? Don t you think there ought to be something more.... We haven t got too much time, you know--any of us. 6

7 THE DIRECTOR S THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PLAY Director, Roger DeLaurier Director Roger DeLaurier, who worked on this play 21 years ago, says he has taken a new approach this time out and has an even greater appreciation for it. First, the set has been completely reimagined. It s really different and that helps because the house itself is kind of a character in the play and with that new vision, it helps me see the play differently. DeLaurier added, And, I think I just know a lot more now because I ve done a lot of comedies over those 21 years. I see the mechanics of the play more clearly. I know how the machine is put together. The director also has a stronger affinity for the character of Grandpa whose life purpose is to pursue your bliss, the stuff that gives you deep satisfaction and real meaning to your life. What brings Grandpa fulfillment is helping them find their satisfaction. What he says is really simple, that life should be fun, and if you re not having fun, you really need to re- examine what you re doing. The play s structure was also unique for its time and continues to resonate in modern comedies. Kaufman and Hart invented the mechanism for situation comedies. The premise is that of the whacky family at the center of the comedy with outside forces of the normal world for them to bounce off of. I ll be more then half of the sitcoms currently on TV today revolve around the Kaufman and Hart formula, said DeLaurier. The 1930s writing team also utilized every form of comedy available to them to create this zany show, starting with farce. In the first nine pages of the play there are 29 entrances and exits. That s pure farce. It starts there, but we have slapstick comedy, we have comedy of language, some very American vaudeville rhythm jokes with set ups and punch lines, and then situational and character comedy along with running sight gags. And it bounces back and forth. It just has the whole arsenal of comedic techniques contained in it. DeLaurier observed. At it s basic level, the play is just a warmhearted American play that looks at very American values of work ethic, money, achievement, and status, and how that effects your own true happiness. 7

8 About The Success of You Can t Take It With You When You Can t Take It With You opened on December of 1936, at the Booth Theatre in New York, the play hit home with audiences and critics alike. People loved the story and the humorous conflict between the characters that are the haves and the have not. It was also a tremendous boon for the playwrights, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, as they were recognized for their unparalleled collaboration in writing the comedy with such genius. There was no doubt, America instantly fell in love with the Vanderhof / Sycamore family, as they clearly reflected the absurdity of the social and political issues of the era, known as The Great Depression. You Can t Take It With You offered a figurative laugh, as well as warmth for an ailing country, now six years into the Great Depression. Even with President Roosevelt s New Deal which offered jobs and relief through government programs, in 1932, 25 percent of Americans remained jobless. Audiences were eager to forget their troubles. People would find escape in darkened theatres of both stage and screen, with screw ball comedies. In fact, the Broadway production of You Can t Take It With You was still playing when the film adaptation opened at Radio City Music Hall in 1938, just five blocks away from the Booth Theatre. Even though, throughout the 1930 s, serious dramas and plays were also being made, with themes of political discourse and social criticism, comedies were, on a national level, the popular choice for entertainment of the day. By today s standards, comedies are often perceived to be a lowbrow art form. Labeled, frat boy comedy or gross out and romantic comedy, in the 1930 s, the screwball comedy was celebrated. In fact, You Can t Take It With You was awarded the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the film version of the play received Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director (and was nominated in five other categories). Some scholars have pointed out that the success of the play and film is evidence of a deeper resonance in the madcap story. The Vanderhof / Sycamore family, within their zaniness, are also a tight-knit family, and Grandpa, within his antigovernment extremism, is also a symbol of the power of the individual against (in the words of late professor Charles Kaplan) impersonal and powerful economic forces. Standing firm and loony, You Can t Take It With You offered audiences both laughs and the hope that a family could be happy within a struggling city. 8

9 About The Authors George S. Kaufman Moss Hart George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart were Broadway s comedic dream team of the 1930s. The two co-wrote seven Broadway plays and one musical, including You Can t Take It With You, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in Their other works include Once in a Lifetime, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and The American Way. The pair also wrote Merrily We Roll Along, the basis for Stephen Sondheim and George Furth s musical. Before working with Hart, Kaufman was an established Broadway playwright. Yet Kaufman wrote only one play alone: The Butter and Egg Man in He was known as The Great Collaborator, having worked with sixteen writers, including Marc Connelly, Edna Ferber, Morrie Ryskind, and Ring Lardner. Kaufman s biggest success before his collaboration with Hart was Of Thee I Sing, written with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin. Of Thee I Sing was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize. Kaufman was also part of the Algonquin Round Table (also known as The Vicious Circle ), a group of novelists, playwrights, journalists, and editors who were the epicenter of New York s literary culture. Hart, on the other hand, was not an established playwright before his collaboration with Kaufman. After an impoverished upbringing in New York City, Hart struggled to find success. His credits consisted of several failed plays and work with amateur theatre groups. Then, in 1929, Hart wrote a draft of Once in a Lifetime. The play caught the attention of Broadway producer Sam Harris, who suggested that Hart collaborate with Kaufman to mount the production. Once in a Lifetime was an immediate 9

10 George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart success, catapulting Hart out of poverty and into Broadway s inner circle. The production ran for 406 performances. Kaufman directed and played the role of bumbling playwright Lawrence Vail. The play received rave reviews, with the New York Times calling it a hard, swift satire fantastic and deadly, and full of highly charged comedy lines. The success of Once in a Lifetime set the stage for Kaufman and Hart s string of hits and began their life-long friendship. Kaufman, 15 years older than Hart, became Hart s professional and social mentor. Despite his collaborations with other playwrights, Kaufman s collaboration with Hart is regarded as his most important. Kaufman respected Hart and regarded him as an equal. He gave Hart top billing on many of their productions, including You Can t Take It With You, because it was his rule to credit the originator of each play s concept. Hart also held Kaufman in high esteem. Act One, Hart s memoir, is largely a tribute to their friendship. The pair connected over comedy, their Jewish upbringings, and their similar personalities. In 1940, Hart decided to break from Kaufman. He wanted to prove to himself that he could be successful without a collaborator. The split was amicable, and the two remained close friends. In 1941, Hart wrote the book for the musical comedy Lady in the Dark. He went on to author a number of other plays, including Winged Victory in 1943, Christopher Blake in 1947, and Light Up the Sky in None of Hart s solo efforts achieved the success of his work with Kaufman. Kaufman went on to success as a director, winning a Tony Award for Guys and Dolls in Kaufman and Hart died in the same year, 1961, Kaufman at age 71 and Hart at only 57. Hart famously gave the eulogy at Kaufman s funeral, and he dedicated much of Act One to Kaufman s role in launching his career. Kaufman and Hart are an important part of the tradition of 20th century Broadway collaborators, which began with Rodgers and Hart, and continued with pairs like Lerner and Lowe, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Kander and Ebb. Information compiled for Upstage Guide at Roundabout Theatre Company 10

11 ELEMENTS OF PRODUCTION About The Production This production also celebrates the staging polarities of the piece it s a marvelous hybrid of high and low tech; it s full of tech gags and it is truly about the persuasive power of the actor. And most importantly, it s about the collaboration between audience and actor regarding the conventions of time, place and action. This is a play with over 100 sound cues which help to create planes, trains and automobiles our cinematic experience of the story. It doesn t surprise Artistic Director Mark Booher that the first Tony for sound design went to the original Broadway production. And while you will enjoy seeing the apparatus of the story, in PCPA s production buckle your seatbelt, it s a breakneck paced rollercoaster ride. Mr. Booher notes that pace is everything in playing farce and it s also in our human natures to love speed. As he observes, it s why we love to fly as humans we aspire to soar and roar. And since this is a play less about intellect and more about experience, it s farce thriller, not psychological thriller. Audiences can thrill to the intensely physical work of the four actors involved, and they can also consider that behind all the energy and pace there is substance. Mark Booher, like adaptor Barlow, wants us to remember that the play does ask how do I stand alone and make good in the world. At the core, it is a play that celebrates the ingenuity, resolve, resourcefulness and resilience of the individual against all the odds, one can still emerge triumphant. Karin Hendricks as Essie and Madison Shaheen as Alice 11

12 COSTUME DESIGN Costume designer Eddy L. Barrows was faced with the challenge of costuming a full cast of 19 characters (several with additional costume changes) to be set in the 1930 s. Each character had to be approached with the concept that the period look would be clearly defined, yet durable for the weeks the show will be running. Mr. Barrows met the challenge with a series of over 35 costume designs and changes that keep to the period as well as accommodate the lightening fast pace of the show. Act I costume with a change into dressing gown. Character: Martin Vanderhof played by Peter Hadres* Design rendering by Eddy L. Barrows 12

13 Character: Alice Sycamore Acti I Scene II Act III Played by Madison Shaheen Design rendering by Eddy L. Barrows 13

14 Character: Boris Kolenkhov Act I and III Act II Played by Andrew Philpot* Design rendering by Eddy L. Barrows 14

15 SCENIC DESIGN Scenic designer Jason Bolen was faced with the challenge of creating a singular unit set that depicts the interior of the Vanderhof / Sycamore home, in the 1930 s. Each scene has its unique challenges. The play takes place over the course of a few days, and time changes within day light hours through late evening. There is also the challenge of filling the home with furnishings that indicate there are several members of the family living there with very active and unpredictable (sometimes unexplained) hobbies and interests. Mr. Bolens s design is a collage of theatrical solutions to move the play from one wacky scene to the next. The Scale Model is the final design approved by the director, which will be built for our production. Set design by Jason Bolen. 15

16 This is one of the many front elevations that will help define the finished look of the home interior. This partial wall is how scenic painters develop the intricate details when painting the finished set pieces. Design by Jason Bolen. 16

17 Because the play takes place over the course of a few days and between day light hours and evening hours, the designer will offer ways for the lighting designer opportunities to set the tone with lights. This might include windows as well as lamps and over head lighting instruments. There is also indications of shelves and wall hanging to show the audience the clutter of many people with very different interests sharing the same home. Design by Jason Bolen. 17

18 KEEP 'EM LAUGHING A brief history of comedy in the theatre With it s tale of an eccentric but identifiable family featuring quirky characters, chaotic action, witty dialogue and physical humor, you might say You Can t Take It With You is a precursor to today s more modern television genre the situation comedy (or sitcom). While Kaufman and Hart did indeed help to establish and move the form of the sitcom forward (television as we know it wouldn t catch on until around a decade or so after the play opened), their work is a piece of the larger and more intricate history of the sitcom a history that spans thousands of years and continues to grow every day. If you really want to trace the lineage of the sitcom all the way back to its roots, you need to go Ancient Greek on the subject. I know what you re thinking, Didn t the Ancient Greeks favor the real boring and long stuff like Oedipus and Antigone? A Grecian urn depicting a scene from a Greek comedy Well, the ancient Greeks did love tragedy (which isn t as long and boring as you might think). For the Ancient Greeks, tragedy presented a story and lesson for the individual and how he or she related with others, the world and the gods. It s one hero (or an individual) versus the world, and unfortunately in Ancient Greek tragedy that individual always loses. The hero s tragic (and often violent) quest teaches the audience about themselves and the world around them. 18

19 On the other hand, comedies offered an alternative to the darker tragic tale. Comedies tended to focus on a group of people, usually without all the bloodshed and tragic downfalls. In fact, for the Ancient Greeks comedies were a form not about individual development but instead about the building of a community. Despite all the zany twists and turns, everybody could end up together and with a new awareness of those around them. Aristophanes, the greatest of Greek comic playwrights, was really the man who launched and propelled comic drama as an important art form. His specific form of comedy was called Old Comedy, and it featured topical action and a lot of satire. That is, Aristophanes used real world events, people and places in his work, and then took every opportunity to poke fun at his subjects. He wasn t afraid to ham it up with hilarious physical action, either. Sometimes he d go a little too far with things, so watch out for PG-13 or even rated R kinds of language and physical humor in his plays. These pieces can be kind of tough for modern audiences because if you don t know the topics covered, you probably won t get the jokes. In contrast, Roman playwrights like Terence and Plautus would perfect New Comedy. This sort of comedy centered on highly relatable family, home and social situations. New Comedy featured a lot of clever word play, jokes and one-liners. Stock characters made up the action, featuring slaves, soldiers, concubines and old men. These characters were easily recognizable to an audience, each with his own specific set of character traits. For example, the solider was typically arrogant and macho, while the slaves might be wily and clever. A Comedia Del Arte performance in progress. Comic storytelling during the Renaissance would continue to build upon both Old and New traditions with Commedia dell Arte (literally translated as Comedy of art ). Like Old Comedy, Commedia dell Arte utilized physical action while also 19

20 borrowing from New Comedy s clever word play and stock characters. Commedia innovated, however, by doing it all within improvised sketches as opposed to fully scripted plays (think of shows like Whose Line is it Anyway?). Commedia incorporated more intricate sorts of design and performance elements by utilizing masks, music and dance during the show. And here s a little fun fact to impress your friends Commedia s brand of physical comedy is known as slapstick, which is named after the actual prop used in sketches for you guessed it slapping other characters on stage! Whew! Are we ready to fast forward to the late 1800s? Of course, it goes without saying that all the greats were using Old Comedy, New Comedy and Commedia dell Arte in their work. Just look at folks like Shakespeare, Molière and Wilde all the cool kids know their comedic elements and how to use them. But how are these things used today? And to what end? Once we blast into the late 19 th century, vaudeville carries the torch of comedy to the masses. These popular variety shows were a lot like today s America s Got Talent, only vaudeville came on the scene just before the television. You could see almost anything in a vaudeville show singers, dancers, magicians, jugglers and more! Stemming from Vaudeville, the first sitcom aired on January 12, 1926 and was called Sam n Henry. This 15-minute daily program wasn t on television though, it was on the radio. When it switched stations in 1928 it also changed its name to Amos n Andy, the name it would be known as for years to come. The show was essentially a series of sketches using stock characters, set in the African-American community. Lucille Ball, the star of I Love Lucy. Television would change forever in 1951 when Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley starred in I Love Lucy. While other sitcoms like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Honeymooners found success on television, I Love Lucy changed the way television was produced (utilizing a multiple camera setup, all filming at once) and introduced the world to the re-run, as the show lived long after it was over in Clowning was a trademark of the show specifically Lucille Ball s brand of physical comedy and witty jokes, re-upping ancient principles of comedy. 20

21 In the 1960 s, sitcoms explored new subject matter, continuing to show how television and comedy could have social relevance. Shows like The Andy Griffth Show and The Brady Bunch would show that families weren t always entirely conventional. Meanwhile, The Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched explored the truly fantastical. Sitcoms continued to change in the 1970s with the growing prominence of women and minorities on TV. The Jeffersons, Good Times and Sanford and Son all featured racially diverse casts, while The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a female-led sitcom. Social issues also became fair game for sitcoms like M*A*S*H, which dealt with war. With the 80s, sitcoms saw a return to the family with shows like Full House, Who s the Boss? and Growing Pains. Comedians began to cross over their acts from comedy clubs to the small screen (a movement that actually has roots in the 1970s with Bob Newhart and The Bob Newhart Show), with hits like Bill Cosby s The Cosby Show and Roseanne Barr s Roseanne. The Simpsons by Matt Groening. While they had existed prior to 1990, animated sitcoms really came into prominence during the 90s. Shows like The Simpsons (the longest running sitcom ever), South Park and Family Guy were all born within the decade, finding an audience among year olds and continue to thrive today. Today, sitcoms are trending towards pseudo-documentary types like The Office and Modern Family. More traditionally dramatic sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men still exist, but seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Where will comedy and the sitcom go next? Who knows! But one thing is for certain wherever it ends up, chances are it won t stray too far from its roots. Even though they originated thousands of years ago, the basic building blocks of comedy clever word play, physical humor, stock characters and improvisation will always be funny and relevant. 21

22 CLASSROOM ACTIVITES PRE-SHOW ACTIVITES HOW DO WE CREATE TABLEAUX TO SHOW FAMILY VALUES? In You Can t Take It With You, you will meet a family whose values are different from those of the society around them. MATERIALS: Open space ACTIVATE 1 Ask students to stand on an Agree or Disagree side of the classroom, based on their response to each of these 3 prompts. Prompts should be given one at a time. 1. It is important to make money. 2. It is important to have fun in life. 3. It is important to work hard at something you love doing. After each prompt, ask a few students to articulate their position. ACTIVATE 2 Create tableaux, showing families in which everyone holds one of these statements as a core value. Assign students to small groups and ask each group to create a frozen stage picture showing a family in which everyone agrees with the statement. Allow students to present their tableaux without telling the audience their statement. Viewers guess what each family s shared value is. REFLECT How did each character in the tableaux demonstrate her/his agreement with the statement? Why do families share values? What happens when people within a family don t agree on values? WRITE (EXTENSION) Mix students from different family groups, so characters hold different values. Students can collaborate to write an exchange of dialogue in which their characters debate values and try to persuade each other why their way is the best. HOW DOES AN ENSEMBLE COLLABORATE TO CREATE COMEDY ON STAGE? The nineteen cast members of You Can t Take It With You work together to create moments of physical comedy throughout the show. Often, actors rely on one another to set up a joke or help the audience know where to look. What skills do actors need to do this? MATERIALS: Open space ACTIVATE: Gather students into a circle. Have one person, the it, begin in the center of the circle. The objective of the game is to stay out of, or get out of, of the center of the circle. There are several ways to do this, all of which rely on quick reaction time. It may use any of the options. 1. Bippity-Bop: The person who is it points to and looks at a target and says Bippity-Bop. If the target says Bop before it finishes saying Bippity-Bop, the target stays where they are. If it reaches the end of Bippity-Bop before the target says Bop, the target is now it. 2. Bop: The person who is it points to and looks at a target and says Bop. If the target speaks, they have lost and they are now it. 3. Essie Carmichael: The person who is it points to and looks at a target and says Essie Carmichael and begins to count to five. The target person, AND the people on either side of him/her must take on the posture of a trio of classical ballet dancers. The person in the middle should rise on their toes and lift their arms into fifth position, a circle over their head. Those on either side should pivot toward the target and hold their arms in third position, one arched overhead and one at chest level. (Perfection in dance poses is not important- students should go for a big, stereotypical ballet look.) If the trio makes it to the ballet position before it gets to five, they win and remain where they are. If they do not make it into the ballet position, the target becomes it. 4. IRS Agents: The person who is it points to and looks at a target and says IRS Agents and begins counting to five. The target person AND the people on either side of him/her must take on the posture of a trio of IRS agents looking through binoculars at Grandpa Vanderhof, who has never paid income taxes. If the trio makes it to the IRS Agents position before it gets to five, they win and remain where they are. If they do not make it into the position, the target becomes it. 22

23 POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES HOW DO INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS OF A PRODUCTION COME TOGETHER TO CREATE A COHERENT WHOLE? In a family, each member s interests and personality contribute to the family s identity as a whole. Similarly, each element of a production set, lights, actors, stage management, costumes, music, etc contributes to the overall show. MATERIALS: Blank paper, tape or glue, scissors, magazines WRITE Who is in your family? Students may focus on a close group of friends, rather than a traditional family, if desired. Create a list of family members, and brainstorm a short list of words connected to each family member. Words can be descriptors or notes about their interests. ACTIVATE Create a collage that includes visual representations of each family member. Do not divide the paper into different sections let the elements overlap and run into each other. REFLECT Display completed collages around the room. What do you see in each collage? How would you describe this family as a whole? Why? How do the individual elements of the collage contribute to your sense of the family? HOW DO WE EXPLORE COMEDY THROUGH IMPROVISED SCENES? REFLECT You ve seen the comic situation that occurs when the Kirbys unexpectedly show up for dinner on the wrong night. Take a few minutes to analyze the scene: Why it is funny? Why is it an important moment in the play? How did Kaufman and Hart create complications to make the scene more hilarious? ACTIVATE Improvise variations on the unexpected guest scenario. To begin, the group can generate two lists of prompts. Keep the categories A and B in two separate piles. List A: Activities a person could be doing (e.g., feeding snakes, making fireworks) List B: Jobs/positions people have (e.g., a ballet instructor, a Wall Street businessman, a Russian Princess) Students work in pairs or trios. Student A draws an activity and plays a character doing the given activity. Student B draws a job/role and becomes the unexpected guest. Give a few minutes for the students to plan a scene, thinking about the potential for comedy in this situation. Students should decide an objective for each character. Then, allow a few minutes for each pair to improvise in front of the class. Note: Encourage a Yes, and approach to keep the scene moving and building. WRITE The improvisations move into playwriting. Students work in pairs or individually to further explore these situations in written dialogue and stage directions. Consider how the situation could become more complicated and comedic. Madison Shaheen as Alice and Chad Sommerville as Tony Kirby 23

24 TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION DIVERSITY Throughout various points in the play, people are at odds with those who are different from them. For example, Alice is embarrassed because her family is eccentric and doesn t adhere to the usual perceived norms. Mr. and Mrs. Kirby find the Sycamore family to be distasteful in their oddities. What do you think about people who are different from you? Should the differences between you be a source for judgment? What does diversity mean to you? CREATIVITY & ECCENTRICITY From the opening moments of the play, we are immersed in a world that is sometimes a little strange. The people of the Sycamore household all seem to possess certain quirks, but does that make them creative? What do you make of the family s eccentricities? Do you think eccentricity relates to creativity? If so, how? POLITICS Throughout the play, there are various moments in which Boris talks about Russian politics and Grandpa talks about paying taxes (or not paying taxes). At what period in time is the play set? What relevance could the time period have to bear on some of the more serious issues characters like Boris and Grandpa bring up? How do you feel about politics and issues relating to the government? Should you be aware of these kinds of things? ESCAPISM You Can t Take It With You is sometimes called a purely escapist play or a play that s all about entertainment and not necessarily containing any deeper meaning than what s on the surface. What do you think is this play escapist in nature? Is there a place for escapist art, or do you think that all art should have some deeper, more profound meaning? GLOSSARY MONASTERY A place inhabited by monks or individuals who have taken religious vows Penny tells Essie about her play, explaining that she can t seem to write herself out of the location of a monastery. INTERSTATE COMMERCE Any moving of people or goods across national or international borders Grandpa does not understand why he needs to pay income tax for Interstate Commerce or why there is a need for Interstate Commerce at all. EMPIRE Of the style exhibited in the first French Empire Alice explains to Tony that her family s kitchen was either going to be designed in the Empire or Neo-Grecian style. NEO-GRECIAN Of the Greek revival style and exhibited in the second French Empire Alice explains to Tony that her family s kitchen was either going to be designed in the Empire or Neo-Grecian style. PAVLOVA The name of a famous Russian dancer Boris Kolenkhov affectionately calls Essie his Pavlova in her dance lessons. ENTRECHAT A ballet term that refers to a leap where the dancer crosses her legs repeatedly Boris Kolenkhov instructs Essie to perform an entrechat in her dance lessons 24