IU Theatre brings play alongside ‘Shrew’ for festival

In 1936, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart collaborated to write “You Can’t Take It With You,” a comedy that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1937.

On Thursday, this piece of history came to IU’s Wells-Metz Theatre and the Lee Norvelle Theatre & Drama Center. Performances will continue until July 29.

The 2012 Indiana Festival Theatre presents this show simultaneously with William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” which features the same cast.

Nicole Bruce, IU junior and theater and drama major, auditioned and was cast as Essie in “You Can’t Take It With You” and Grumio in “The Taming of the Shrew.”

“It’s a lot of work to be in two shows at the same time,” she said. “I don’t know how the summer stock or other festivals around the world that run full season run four or eight shows in the summer. Two is a lot.”

“You Can’t Take it With You” depicts the clash of two families when the son of one, Tony, falls in love with Alice, the daughter of the other.

Director Dale McFadden, professor and associate chair in the Department of Theatre and Drama at IU, has directed many plays for the Indiana Festival Theatre, including “Ah! Wilderness.”

“It’s a lot of fun watching the same group of actors do very different things in both shows,” Bruce said. “It’s about keeping the energy up and just going over and over again, day after day.”

Because she did not receive the opportunity sooner, Bruce did not realize high schools put on the production until she began talking with cast mates.

She added that it is heartwarming when a show receives good exposure.

“I’m glad IU chose it, said Brunce. “It’s good fair for the summer, and it’s a really sweet story. It’s still poignant, still important, and it’s nice to take a break from the more political and avant garde works to go back to something that’s a classic for a reason.”

— Rachel Wisinski