Most everybody has seen "You Can't Take It With You" and knows what a good comedy it is. The play is one of Kaufman and Hart's best and has long been a favorite of the summer theatres throughout the country. Unfortunately it requires a more polished performance than a week's rehearsing will allow and so the usual production is not up to the real value of the play.

This is the case with the Brattle Hall presentation with three notable exceptions. The lovable Grandpa Vanderhof is played by one of stage and screen's great character actors, Fred Stone, whose acting is a fine example of comic technique. He has all the timing, presence, and quaint mannerisms that are required to bring such a role to life, and his performance is one that should not be missed. He is best supported by his daughter, Paula, and by Nancy Duncan, who play his grand-daughter and daughter respectively. Nancy Duncan again shows her versatility as an actress in the role of the truly bird-brained awkward ballerina. These three carry the performance with the able help of Jacqueline DeSuz in the tiny role of a drunken actress. The rest of the cast lacks the precision which such comedies require and as a result there are moments when the antics of this strange family become less than humorous.

The play, however, has lost little of its humor and almost none of its meaning. Some gags no longer seem funny due to the events of the several years since the play's creation, but the situation is essentially comic and the philosophy of escape it offers a pleasant one. In addition, the opportunity to see Fred Stone in the intimacy of Brattle Hall is a valuable experience. Perhaps the best part of the evening is his little curtain speech, which sheds a very favorable light upon the by-gone art of vaudeville. On the whole, this performance is good entertainment and well worth the money; for after all, "you can't take it with you."