Tech week has been underway for the production “You Can’t Take It With You” for the Ankeny drama production. This Friday, Nov. 2 is opening night for families and students to enjoy. 

“You Can’t Take It With You”, winner of the 1937 Pulitzer prize for drama, is a comedic play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. 

“The show is set in 1935, and it’s about a very kooky family that lives in New York. And anybody that has come to visit has just turned into family and sticks around. And they’re just really funny people,”  assistant drama director Patrick (PJ) Hurley said.  “One of the daughters is dating the son of a millionaire and the millionaire family comes over for dinner and everything that can go wrong goes wrong to where they actually all get arrested by the government.”

Blahunka says that the most important part of the play is that in theater, there is something called the spine of a play. It is like a thesis. Each show has a message they want to deliver. The cast and crew decided at the first rehearsal that the spine for them is to unite a family in joy. 

The crowd is set to enjoy the interpretation put together by the Ankeny High cast and crew. 

“I think that every interpretation is going to bring something new,” Blahunka said. “I love the interpretation that our different characters have given to it, and I love the idiosyncrasies that each actor brings to their character which brings something new.”

The cast has been focusing on interpreting their characters and bringing them to life the past couple of weeks. 

“One of the most challenging things about bringing a script to life is playing with the characters’ dynamics,” senior Jenna Freeseman who plays Penelope (Penny) Sycamore in the play, said.  Sometimes, it takes a couple attempts to find the right way to say a sentence that fits the character, but is also believable from the actor.”

Junior Isabel Rabbs, who is a part of the hair and makeup crew, says that she is most excited for the crowd to see all the hard work that everyone’s been putting in. 

The days are long for all those involved in the play during tech week. It is the week where everything comes together from the past few weeks. 

“We’ll go until at least nine every night. We will start at four with the cast and crew meeting and then we’ll run some things on stage, not in costume or makeup. We’ll pause to eat dinner. Food is always one of the harder things to coordinate for us, but after dinner, we’ll get into full costume and makeup and then do a full run of the show,” Blahunka said. “But we call it Tech Week because it is when we’re incorporating all of the technical elements, so we’ll be doing a lot of things for the first time this week. There will be some hiccups, but that’s how it goes. We will make it work regardless.” 

The production crew and cast members hope that the crowd will enjoy it just as much as they do. 

“I just laugh. I’ve seen it over and over and over, and I still laugh even when I’m backstage,” Hurley said. “I’m not even watching the actress, but I start laughing at the lines.”

Freeseman says that the twists and turns of events within the household in the play will get many laughs from the audience.

“Even though it is from the ‘30s it is so so funny. It’s really just like an uproariously funny show,” Blahunka said. “During our first readthrough, the cast could not stop laughing, so it’s old but good. It’s an oldie, but a goodie.”

Showtimes will be Nov. 3 and 4 at 7:00 p.m. and Nov. 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Purchase your tickets here: ankenydrama.ludus.com