Comedy delivers on the laughs
Community Players version of ‘You Can’t Take It with You’ delivers laughs, and more
Local production of classic comedy ‘ You Can’t Take It With You’ keeps the laughs coming.
PAWTUCKET — The comedy “You Can’t Take It with You” premiered on Broadway in 1936, and the current Community Players production shows that it has aged well.
Playwrights Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman not only put lots of laughs in the script, earning a Pulitzer Prize, but also a gentle message about being – and accepting – who we are.
The story centers on the Sycamore family, an eccentric but loveable clan whose matriarch, Penelope, writes plays, or at least starts writing them; a patriarch, Paul, who manufactures fireworks in the basement; a sister, Essie, a would-be ballet dancer of limited ability but lots of ambition; and Alice, the most “normal” one. Then there is the grandfather, Martin Vanderhof, who doesn’t believe in paying taxes.
Close associates include Essie’s clueless husband, a housekeeper and her do-nothing boyfriend, Essie’s Russian ballet teacher, and Mr. DePinna who stopped to deliver ice eight years earlier and never left.
The rub comes when Alice falls in love with Tony Kirby, the son of the owner of the company where she works. She loves her wacky family but knows when they meet with Tony’s proper, pillars-ofthe-community parents, things stand a good chance of going wrong.
The play and this production, under the direction of Patricia Hawkridge, builds nicely from the introduction of the characters and their eccentricities to the crazy events when the Kirbys come for dinner. At Alice’s heartfelt request, the Sycamores try to behave but, of course, they can’t. That alone creates chaos, exacerbated by mixing in the Russian dance teacher, a random actress, a beancounting IRS agent and a trio of G-women.
Some of the best laughs come from actors who make it look like they aren’t even trying. Carol Varden seems authentically flaky as Penelope Sycamore, and Brian Mulvey’s understated delivery as the tax-averse Vanderhof adds to the humor.
But Laura Benjamin’s over-the-top performance as Gay Wellington, the actress Penelope met on a bus and impulsively invited home to read for one of her plays, adds variety. Richard Griffin also was good as the IRS agent whose logic is lost on Vanderhof. Ashley Lopes is natural and sincere as Alice, who loves Tony but fears her strange family will derail their future, while Daniel Martens, as Tony, is appealing and convincing in his acceptance of things as they are.
Comedy, however, is a dish best served quickly, and that was a weak point in the opening night performance; the timing was a little slow. However, the humorous writing – especially a carefully set-up and delivered joke about the taxes – along with the message of acceptance make this 81-year-old play worth revisiting.
Performances of “You Can’t Take It With You” continue Friday and Saturday, July 14 and 15, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, July 16, at 2 p.m., in Jenks Auditorium, 350 Division St., across from McCoy Stadium. Tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for students through high school, and can be purchased online thecommunityplayers.net, at or reserved by calling 401726-6860.