You Can’t Take It With You! at Southwark Playhouse

The scene is 1936 New York in the home of Grandpa and the Sycamore Family. The opening moments perfectly set the bohemian domestic scene; mother with her (real!) little grey kitten, tapping away at an antique typewriter; Essie, a daughter pirouetting in circles across the room; son in law, Ed playing the xylophone; unemployed husband Paul making real fireworks in the cellar... so the tale unfolds with friends and visitors, crazy, unpredictable and at all times expressing a joie de vivre impossible not to enjoy.

All this light heartedness does have something more serious to say. This is exemplified when Alice Sycamore another daughter falls in love with Tony Kirby, the son of the owner of the company for whom she works. Is this eccentric /mad world she inhabits at home compatible with a totally different one?

Also the visit of a government tax inspector signals the contrast of how life was conducted in the past with the rapid advancement of a more industrialised and accountable future. Can the two coexist?

Go and find out. All the characters in the large cast are very well played throughout. The set and costumes are perfect in their period detail. In particular the faded genteel surroundings of the main room complete with it's furniture and pictures, including a shy teddy bear who tenderly watched over everyone from a side bookcase.

The audience loved this production.

Highly Recommended.