PREVIEW: Southwick Players stage a comedy

Southwick Players' latest performance centres around the Vanderhof/Sycamore clan and is set in the family's large New York house.

If at first the family seems mad, it is not long before the realisation hits that if they are mad, then the rest of the world is madder.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhof (Roly Petts) is the family's patriarch, who long ago made his peace with the world '“ if not the Internal Revenue Service.

Then there is his daughter, the cheerful yet unpublished playwright Penelope Sycamore (Fiona Cameron), and her husband Paul (Brian Gill), who happily manufactures fireworks in the cellar.

The third generation consists of the couple's daughters and son-in-law, the optimistic but inept ballerina Essie Carmichael (Amy White), and her husband Ed (Andy Hutchison), who has a passion for printing presses* and xylophones, and Alice (Louise Yeo), a Wall Street secretary who seems to be the only normal person in the household.

Into the whirlwind of activity comes Tony Kirby (Duncan Vicat-Brown) '“ Alice's boyfriend, the son of her boss, and the epitome of normality and success in the world of business.

Tony loves Alice, despite the craziness at her family home, which amuses him. Alice, on the other hand, is sometimes mortified by what happens when she brings Tony to the house.

Despite the differences between the two families, the couple are soon engaged. Despite Alice's protests, a dinner party is planned for Tony's parents '“ at the Vanderhof home.

Her family assure her they will be on their best behaviour, but, as with most things in the Vanderhof family, not everything goes entirely to plan...

Directed by Michael Eyres, You Can't Take It With You will be performed from Wednesday to Saturday, March 9.

Tickets are available from the Barn Theatre box office, at Southwick Community Centre, Southwick Street, by calling 01273 597094 or online at www.southwickplayers.org.uk

* The Players urgently need an old-fashioned, hand-operated printing press for the production. If anyone can help, please can they contact Anita Shipton on 01273 494325 or Di Tidzer on 01273 595637 or 07989 675780.