Don't Meet the Parents

George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart set the gold standard for the "meet the parents" screwball comedy with their play You Can't Take It With You. The Sycamore family is packed with nuts, from snake-handling, tax-dodging Grandpa to fireworks-hobbyist Dad, right down sister Essie, a freelance candymaker who dreams of being a ballerina. Alice Sycamore, Essie's sister, is a free-spirited young woman as well -- she actually has a real job. She falls in love with her coworker, straight-laced Anthony Kirby. Fireworks ensue when Anthony brings his prim and proper parents to dine at the eccentric Sycamore house on the wrong night. The Washington University Performing Arts Department presents You Can't Take It With You at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (February 21 through March 2) at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus (6445 Forsyth Boulevard; 314-935-6543 or www.edison.wustl.edu). Tickets are $10 to $15.
Sundays, 2 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Starts: Feb. 21. Continues through March 2, 2014