Show Plot You Can't Take It With You

Authors:  George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Time Period: 1936

Setting: The living room of the Vanderhof family home in New York City (located near Columbia University on the Upper West Side)

Summary: The eccentric Vanderhof-Sycamore family is run by Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, who quit his job decades ago and lives life happily collecting snakes and attending commencements. His daughter Penny writes endless plays, her husband Paul makes fireworks in the basement, and granddaughter Essie practices terrible ballet while making candy.  The only "normal" member, Alice, works an office job and falls in love with her boss's son, Tony Kirby. Alice invites the stiff, wealthy Kirby family over for dinner on the wrong night. The dinner erupts into total chaos—culminating in a basement fireworks explosion and federal agents raiding the house.