“You Can’t Take It With You” Set to Premiere on November 8

By Rain Ji ’19

This fall, the Gunnery Drama Society will present You Can’t Take It With You, a comedy by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart between November 8 and 10. According to the NPR, You Can’t Take It With You has been one of the 10 most-produced school plays every year since amateur rights became available in 1939.

Ms. Albright, the co-director of the Fall Play, told us that the Gunnery Drama Society originally decided on a different play with less roles. But on the first day of the fall co-curricular, the Society was surprised by the amount of people who were interested in Fall Play, and decided on another play, You Can’t Take it With You. Although unintentional, this show continues the comedy trend from last year.

When asked if a comedy is the best fit for the cast, Ms. Albright described this year’s crew as “a funny group,” “so comedy fits them well.” She also acknowledges that the show has a lot of  “seemingly random lines,” and she thinks that “navigating and memorizing lines” will be the most challenging part. In order to conquer this obstacle, she sat down with one of the lead actresses, Layla Walcott ’19, to go over the lines one-on-one. “This really helps,” Ms. Albright said, “we just go back and forth.”

Ms.Albright believes that You Can´t Take it With You is “truly a show for everybody.” Considering how crazy the family in the play is, everyone might find the story relatable. Ms. Albright is excited to see what the student actors and actresses are capable of, and what the audience’s reaction will be.

This year’s Fall Play has a crew of diverse personalities. For Gianna Russillo ‘20, You Can’t Take it With You is her first Gunnery production. She said that she is most excited about “taking the stage for the first time,” and she believes that “the performance will be a culmination of everyone’s hard work.” As for her role in the play, “I will be playing a drunk woman named Gay Wellington. She is very, very crazy as you will see when you watch the play. She is all over the place, in your face, just an all-around crazy lady,” said Gianna. “One major challenge for me has been learning how to act drunk. It is surprisingly more difficult than I expected.”

Andrew Sutherland ‘20, another rookie of the Gunnery Fall Play cast said that “the biggest challenges that were encountered were learning to play the xylophone, memorizing lines and timing to get the comedy perfect.”

This is a play that challenges all of us to embrace who we are and live the life however we want. Ms. Albright said “Let yourself enjoy the thing that you like doing and don’t be bogged down by the day-to-day life.” She added, “Love your family, that’s important too!”

The Gunnery Drama Society invites all students and faculty, as well as family and friends, to come see the play in the Lemcke Theater of the Emerson Performing Arts Center between November 8 and 10.