You Can’t Take It With You

What: Open auditions for You Can’t Take It With You at Connecticut Theatre Company
When: 1/4/27 & 1/5/27 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Where: The Repertory Theatre | 23 Norden Street | New Britain, CT 06051
Run Dates: 3/12/27-3/21/27

Audition Preparation
All roles are open! Actors will be seen in order of arrival. Actors will be given sides to read from the script. These sides can be reviewed in advance by downloading our You Can’t Take It With You Audition Packet. A call back audition, if needed, will be held by invitation only. Age ranges listed are stage ages. If you have any questions, please email us at info@connecticuttheatrecompany.org.

Accessibility
If you will require any specific accommodations for this audition, rehearsals or performances, please reach out for assistance. We are eager to help you be able to get to us and to show us your best work! Duane Campbell, Executive Director, dcampbell@connecticuttheatrecompany.org

Character Breakdown:

Principal Roles:

Martin “Grandpa” Vanderhof (60-80+) The philosophical heart of the play. Warm, eccentric, observant and completely comfortable living life on his own terms. Needs excellent comic timing but shouldn’t play the eccentricity too hard. His sincerity is what makes the character work.

Penelope “Penny” Sycamore (40-60s) Grandpa’s daughter and Alice’s mother. Cheerful, enthusiastic and endlessly distracted. Writes plays because a typewriter was accidentally delivered to the house. Big personality and strong comedy role.

Alice (20-30s) Penny and Paul’s daughter. The most conventionally “normal” member of the family. Intelligent, loving and embarrassed by her family’s eccentricities. Her relationship with Tony provides the central romantic storyline.

Tony Kirby (20-30s) Alice’s boyfriend and the son of her wealthy employer. Charming, sincere and increasingly attracted to the freedom of the Sycamore household. Needs genuine chemistry with Alice.

Supporting Roles:

Paul Sycamore (40-60s) Penny’s husband. Sweet-natured tinkerer who happily manufactures fireworks in the basement. Grounded, lovable and utterly at home in the family’s insanity.

Essie Carmichael (20-40s) Alice’s sister. Makes candy and dreams of becoming a ballerina despite having questionable talent. Frequently dances around the house. Requires an actor comfortable with movement and physical comedy.

Ed Carmichael (20-40s) Essie’s husband. Plays the xylophone and operates a printing press. Affable, eccentric and completely devoted to Essie. His innocent printing hobby eventually attracts government attention.

Anthony Kirby Sr. (50-70s) Tony’s wealthy, successful and conservative father. Initially represents everything Grandpa has rejected about conventional ideas of success. Needs authority while still being capable of comedy and eventual vulnerability.

Miriam Kirby (40-70s) Tony’s mother. Proper, socially conscious and deeply uncomfortable with the Sycamores. Her participation in Penny’s party game produces one of the evening’s memorable comic moments.

Boris Kolenkhov (30-60s) Essie’s Russian ballet instructor. Loud, passionate, physical and opinionated. A terrific character role. Needs a performer willing to commit fully to the physical comedy.

Rheba (Adult) The Sycamores’ household employee/cook. Practical, confident and completely unfazed by the chaos surrounding her. Often one of the sanest people in the house.

Donald (Adult) Rheba’s boyfriend. Frequently at the Sycamore home and happily integrated into the household. Easygoing with good opportunities for comic reactions.

Mr. De Pinna (30-70s) Came to the house years ago delivering ice and simply never left. Now Paul’s enthusiastic fireworks partner. Wonderful eccentric character role.

Featured/Cameo Roles:

Gay Wellington (30-70s) An actress Penny meets and invites home to read one of her plays. Arrives drunk and spends much of her visit in various states of consciousness. Small role with enormous comic potential. 

Henderson (Adult) IRS agent who comes to investigate Grandpa’s years of unpaid income tax. His attempt to reason with Grandpa establishes one of the play’s central ideas. 

Olga (Adult) A Russian grand duchess who has fallen on hard times following the Russian Revolution. Friend/acquaintance of Kolenkhov. A colorful late-show character role. 

Three Government Agents (Adult) Government agents whose arrival turns the Sycamore home into even greater chaos. These roles require strong ensemble timing and physical commitment.