Downey High School’s theatre department presents, You Can’t Take it With You, an award winning play, taking place in a New York home in 1936.

This play follows the story of the Sycamore and Kirby families as they deal with the complications of living a happy life versus living to please others.

Auditions were held in late August and about 50 people came to audition for a place in a cast consisting of  22 people. Beginning almost daily rehearsals in early September, the cast has put a lot of effort in hopes of perfecting the performance before their first showcase on Nov. 8.

Playing the role of Alice Sycamore, Emma Manetta, 9, explains the complications she had coming into the cast a few weeks after rehearsals had begun.

“I have never really done acting before. I was a bit nervous to be in front of people especially having memorized my lines in only a few weeks,” Manetta said. “I’m glad the first run through went great and I can’t wait for the next performances because it’s really fun to be on stage.”

The overall conflict of the story is then heightened by the romance between the characters of, Alice Sycamore and Anthony Kirby Jr..

Playing Anthony Kirby Jr., Arturo Vega, 12, explains his experience throughout the first run through in the afternoon of Nov. 8.

“My role was pretty fun to play because it was more of a serious character,” Vega said. “The first performance was exciting and much different than rehearsals. Here, the audience actually engages with the actors and laugh along to the jokes you make on stage. It makes you feel like you are actually playing your role right.”

Taking on the role of Martin Vanderhof, Tyler Rivera-Whitt, 12, explains his love of the character and how much of an honor it was to be portraying him.

“I can say that grandpa is pretty much my idol; almost an inspiration because it is someone I want to be when I am older,” Rivera-Whitt said. “The first performance was very fun because I had a lot of smart remarks about my character. I was a bit nervous because I did not know if our play was funny or not. Hearing people laugh during the first night was reassuring and only made me want to perform even more.”

DHS’s theatre department started off the year successfully with the comedic play, You Can’t Take It With You, with the cast’s final performance on Friday, Nov. 17, leaving its fans to await the next production which is taking place in the spring of 2018.