In the News: ‘You Can’t Take it With You,’ but you can yuck it up nonetheless

Pulitzer Prize-winning play in rehearsals at NHS

By: Renata Sweeney
The Newberg Graphic

NHS’ drama troupe has yet to reach the dress rehearsal stage in preparation for the October unveiling of ‘You Can’t Take it With You,’ which will be presented in the school’s auditorium.
Bright yellow walls with sporadic green streaks, a xylophone, at least six different types of chairs, a large bust of a tiger, a glass skull and purple curtains currently adorn the stage of the Newberg High School auditorium. This October, the drama department is performing “You Can’t Take It With You,” the Pulitzer prizewinning comedy-drama that requires such an elaborate set.
In the play, penned by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, Alice Sycamore and Tony Kirby have fallen in love. The problem is that while the Kirby family is straight-laced and upper class Wall Street, the Sycamores are an unconventional group whose only work in life is to do what they love, such as dance or paint. Eventually the two lifestyles come to a disastrous confrontation for the play’s main characters.
The students working on the play said they are excited to show the audience the “game scene,” as they call it. It’s the scene where the Kirby and Sycamore families meet and ultimately clash.
“My family and her family meet and chaos ensues,” said junior Ryan Sherrard, who plays Tony Kirby. “I love her, but I have a stuck-up family.”
Sophomore Samara Eilert described the climax as “funny and awkward.”
The students working on the play practice several hours a day, perhaps more than several past Newberg High plays. “This group came to me and asked for more rehearsals,” said theater teacher Drea Ferguson. She added that no cast had ever made a similar request. “Comedy timing is really difficult. It’s a huge time commitment.”
Ferguson said the play was especially relevant for our money-focused culture. Alice’s grandfather Martin is a bit of a philosopher who believes that life should not be focused on earning money, but on doing what you enjoy.
“Life is kind of beautiful if you let it come to you,” Martin says in the play. Ferguson said she hopes the audience gets the message that “money isn’t really everything.”
The performances are Oct. 7, 8 and 9 and 14, 15 and 16. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students. To reserve tickets, call 503-554-5305.