Mountain Shakespeare Festival Blog

You Can’t Take It With You

Hi all,

Also, this wonderful write up from Holly Van Houten on “You Can’t Take It With You.”

Before you read it, however, I would like to say that of all the plays I have had a hand in directing, perhaps 20 or so, I believe that the writing in this play truly ranks among the best. The characters are so vivid, so clear and so funny!

We were working on the big “J-Men” scene and roughly 18 actors end up o stage by the end, there is an explosion, singing drunk, hey, everything you could want and I realized that unlike most plays every single one of the 18 characters we quite distinct! Usually, when you have that many characters on stage at least half of them are “holding as spear” so to speak, they provide a very useful function to focus energy and attention, but rarely do all the characters on stage “cast a shadow.”

Remarkable.

Read on…

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s “You Can’t Take it With You,” is a delightful combination of escapist comedy and thought-provoking commentary on issues relevant, not only to its own period (1930s America), but to every one in every age. The main focus of the play is the love affair of Alice and Tony, but in negotiating the stark differences between their families, the play manages to engage controversial political issues relevant during The Great Depression, such as FDR’s “New Deal” policies, free speech, the recent levying of an “income” tax, communism and the fall of Russian royalty. But, the play goes even further by delving into the broader philosophical notions of happiness and prosperity. The play, at its heart, makes an attempt to reconcile the tension between two competing versions of the American Dream. The Kirby family represents a version of the American Dream, which tells us that in America, if we work hard, we can gain wealth and prosperity. Anyone, regardless of class, can pull themselves up by their boot straps and achieve not just financial stability, but financial success. We see this portrayed not only in Mr. Kirby’s philosophy, but in the eager attempts of the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina and her family to get ahead in the New York department store workforce. On the other hand, Grandpa Vanderhoff and family represent that part of the American Dream that harkens back to the Declaration of Independence: the pursuit of happiness. According to Grandpa, to be happy, we must be independent: free to do what we like… and for Grandpa, that means playing darts, collecting snakes, attending random commencement addresses, but most of all enjoying his family and his time. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, both versions of the American Dream were coming under heavy questioning. Businesses were failing despite hard work and those who equated happiness with material wealth were desperately in need of Hart and Kaufman’s theatrical realignment of their priorities. The genius of this play is its ability to engage such important issues in a way that is both light-hearted and illuminating. Through farce, satire and just good old belly laughs, “You Can’t Take It With You,” is a play that speaks, not only to its own generation, but timelessly to issues that continue to touch us all. The play has been an enormous success, with a run of 837 performances on Broadway and successful revivals in 1965 and 1983. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1936 and the 1938 film version won the Academy Award. It well deserves its status as a truly “American” classic.

1 comment June 27th, 2008

Comedy of Errors, an overview

Hi there,

Check out this great write up by Holly Van Houten on Comedy of Errors.

“The Comedy of Errors” is likely Shakespeare’s first comedy and at 1800 lines is definitely his shortest. While the errors and confusion of mistaken identity created by long lost twins create much of the comedy, the overarching theme of reunion brings everything right in the end. Although details about Shakespeare’s life are all too scarce, we do know that his own twins (Hamnet and Judith) were born in 1585 and that by 1589 he was separated from his wife for much of the time as he pursued his theatrical career in London. It is hardly surprising then that Shakespeare should explore these ideas in “The Comedy of Errors” which was written between 1589 and 1594. Shakespeare’s primary source for “Comedy of Errors” was Plautus “Manaechmi” which similarly has a set of twins, both with the same name. But Shakespeare makes fundamental changes that give his own version of this story greater depth and take it far beyond mere farce. First of all, Shakespeare multiplies both the confusion and the laughs by doubling the twins and adding a pair of sisters. In doing so, Shakespeare provides a wife for Antipholus of Ephesus, freeing him to explore ideas about marriage and fidelity. He also changes the setting of the play to Ephesus, adding to the marital emphasis by harkening back to St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and the marital admonitions contained therein. Luciana’s prim advice to her sister echoes St. Paul’s words: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands.” The “dark” side of Ephesus is also prominent in St. Paul’s experience of the town as documented in the Acts of the Apostles, where he encounters witchcraft, sorcery and evil spirits. It is this reputation that Antipholus of Syracuse references when he contemplates Ephesus and its “Dark-working sorcerers” and “Soul-killing” witches. This also adds a dimension to Antipholus of Syracuse that is nowhere to be found in Plautus’ earlier play. When Antipholus of Syracuse is mistaken for his brother, he assumes he is dreaming or bewitched and begins to questions his own identity and sanity. Antipholus of Ephesus on the other hand, rightly assumes others are making “errors” and are either crazy or lying, never questioning his own identity or the possibility of witchcraft. Hilariously, it’s Antipholus of Ephesus on whom Dr. Pinch attempts to perform the exorcism. Lastly, Shakespeare increases the tension by adding a dark frame to his comedy, opening and closing it with the impending death sentence of Egeon. As the day wears on, the characters remind us with their references to the passing time, 12:00, 2:00, 5:00, that Egeon’s day of reprieve is moving along quickly. Antipholus of Syracuse may believe he’s losing his mind, but the audience knows that if the growing disorder does not resolve itself quickly, his father Egeon will literally lose his head. At the end though, Shakespeare’s emphasis shifts to a theme of reunion as Egeon reunites with Emilia, both sets of twins meet, and each Antipholus finds his mate. So even in this first comedy, Shakespeare provides us with his characteristic fare: food for thought and a frolicking good time.

Add comment June 27th, 2008