You Can't Take It With You by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman

At first the Sycamore family seem quite mad, but it is not long before we realise that if they are mad, the rest of the world is even madder. In the eccentric world of the Sycamores, life is lived fully and in the moment. At the head of this hilarious family is Grandpa Vanderhof, a man who made his peace with the world a long time ago, and whose youthful philosophy is reflected in his manner and the whole Sycamore clan. In contrast to the Sycamores are the stuffy and snobbish Kirbys. The play tells how Tony, the attractive young son of the hugely wealthy Kirbys, falls in love with Alice Sycamore – the only “normal” Sycamore (she holds a steady Wall Street job). The Kirbys have been invited to dinner to meet Alice’s family, and much to her dismay they duly arrive … on the wrong night. Though quite unprepared for their visitors, the Sycamores endeavour to entertain their guests in their own eccentric fashion, and offer them what little food they have available. The Kirby’s disdain is enough to show Alice that marrying Tony would be quite out of the question and, heartbroken, she decides to call off their engagement. Tony, who is ashamed of his parents behaviour, is determined not to lose Alice, and sets about winning his parents over to the Sycamore’s more endearing qualities, which include amongst other things, manufacturing homemade fireworks in the basement, writing plays, ballet dancing in the kitchen – and of course not paying income tax. A truly warm and delightful comedy, it won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1936.