Review: Drama department at its best

Drama members perform entertaining rendition of ‘You Can’t Take It With You’

Left+to+right%3A+Grace+Orriss%2C+Joel+Fischer%2C+Ian+Johnson%2C+John+Duffy%2C+Daniel+Kerr%2C+Kayden+Delaney%2C%0ARiley+Cousil+and+David+Michael.+The+play%2C+%E2%80%9CYou+Can%E2%80%99t+Take+It+With+You%2C%E2%80%9D+is+a+romantic%0Acomedy+about+the+conflict+between+two+very+different+families+%28Photograph+courtesy+of%0Adrama+department%29.

Left to right: Grace Orriss, Joel Fischer, Ian Johnson, John Duffy, Daniel Kerr, Kayden Delaney, Riley Cousil and David Michael. The play, “You Can’t Take It With You,” is a romantic comedy about the conflict between two very different families (Photograph courtesy of drama department).

In its first production of the school year, the Oak Park drama department took an innovative approach to the romantic comedy, “You Can’t Take It with You,” gaining acclaim for the overall success of the performance.

An adaption of Frank Capra’s classic, the play dramatizes the nuances of a dysfunctional American family, and the hopeless plight of Alice Sycamore’s romantic endeavor to find love with a banker’s son, Tony Kirby. In the hodgepodge of radical personalities and a comical family dynamic, Alice’s peculiar extended family jeopardizes her future with Kirby and proves to be an overly eccentric bunch.

The play issued in a promising year for future productions; with its classic American style, “You Can’t Take It with You” called for creative set decorations and a strong cast dynamic.

“I loved the details of the set and the costumes, it made the play seem for authentic,” junior Morgan Irwin said, “I also thought the actors/actresses did a great job embodying their characters.”

A crucial aspect of each drama production is the mutual cooperation between cast members, stage crew and all others involved. With its seemingly perfect execution and flawless comedic instances, OPHS drama’s creative romantic comedy did just that.

“True to Oak Park style, ‘You Can’t Take It with You’ was a flurry of humor and it easily felt as though the audience was a part of the Sycamore family. The actors portrayed their roles as a perfect loveable family in which you sat waiting for what happened next,” junior Juliana Dunivan said,

In addition to its accomplishments, the production embodied the essence of the Oak Park High School Drama department.

“I wanted to do ‘You Can’t Take It with You’ because we haven’t done a comedy at Oak Park in a while, and I knew it would be a fun way to spend time with great people and to learn more about performing, which I love,” junior Grace Orriss said.

The production hinted at forthcoming opportunities for dramatic excellence. Similar to the quirky yet close-knit Sycamore family, the drama department displayed its fortitude and passionate bond through a seamless debut.