The Humans
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Cititour.com Review
You can hear the echo of Death of a Salesman in Stephen Karam’s outstanding family drama The Humans, the first of his three plays to hit Broadway, and the best new work by an American scribe this season. Though it differs considerably in scope from Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, Karam’s treatment of the struggles and setbacks faced by members of the Blake family, an Irish Catholic clan split between Pennsylvania and New York, is a powerful look at the nightmare that the American dream has become.
The Blakes have gathered for Thanksgiving dinner in the dingy Chinatown duplex apartment where younger daughter Brigid (Sarah Steele) has just moved with her 38-year-old boyfriend, Richard Saad (Arian Moayed). Brigid’s sister, Aimee (Cassie Beck), a lawyer struggling with colitis and the departure of her longtime girlfriend, is visiting from Philadelphia, and their parents, Erik and Deirdre (Reed Birney and Jayne Houdyshell), have driven in from Scranton with Erik’s dementia-stricken mother, Momo (Lauren Klein).
Life-changing revelations are on the menu, not the kind that drive thrillers or even domestic melodramas, but the sort of day-to-day health, family and economic concerns that occupy the minds of millions and gradually wear them down (debt, depression, job insecurity, caring for an elderly relative). Karam’s play and ace director Joe Mantello’s production unfold with terrific subtlety, as naturally as life itself, yet feel dramatically alive.
The characters love and annoy, worry and lecture each other just as a real family would (and these actors have been playing their roles since the play debuted Off Broadway in the fall, so they’ve had lots of time to become a tight-knit clan). Erik, who’s been haunted by bad dreams and sleep-deprived nights, continues to worry about Brigid, whose new apartment comes with a noisy upstairs neighbor and very little light. Though he’s spent decades in maintenance a Catholic high school, financial security eludes him. “Dontcha think it should cost less to be alive?” he says at one point.
Money is also a concern for the Blake women: Deirdre struggles for respect and better pay at her longtime job, Aimee's illness has destroyed her hopes of becoming a partner at her law firm, and Brigid is stuck bartending and collecting unemployment because she can’t get a music-related job. Richard, meanwhile, is two years away from the security that comes with receiving a trust fund.
Beyond Karam’s brilliant, tender characterization, The Humans is also a vigorous theatrical feat. It unfolds in 95 real-time minutes, with the six actors on the two-tier set almost the entire time. Appropriate, since the bonds of family are what keep them from falling apart. The Humans resonates with the struggles and perseverance of America in the 21st century.
By Diane Snyder
Visit the Site
http://www.thehumansonbroadway.com
Cast
Cassie Beck, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein, Arian Moayed, Sarah Steele
Open/Close Dates
Opening 2/18/2016
Closing 7/24/2016
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 1/23/2016
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Hayes Theatre
240 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
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