These Sycamores are evergreen

To suggest, as Rob Kendt does in his review of “You Can’t Take It With You” [“There’s Not Enough to ‘It,’ ” April 22], that the characters in this evergreen Kaufman and Hart play “wouldn’t survive the first round of auditions for ‘The Surreal Life’ ” and to remark that “goalposts for American oddity are a bit further afield” than they were in 1936 is a disservice to your readers and a misreading of this timely play.

The Sycamores are as natural and organic as the tree for which they are named. Though they may seem more than a little sick to paranoid G-men and drama critics, they represent a healthy American notion of family vitality, creativity and, above all, humanity in its most tender form. Director Christopher Hart and his superbly cast ensemble have found the subtle harmony in this cozy nest of cuckoos.

Kendt’s approach would replace this ensemble with cartoon zanies and reality television freaks. Are all our drama critics this desensitized?

Abraham Tetenbaum

Valley Glen