"The Humans" at SHN

Production photo by Julieta Cervantes

And now for something completely different...

A night after seeing such a disappointing show at ACT, we managed to get tickets to see a touring version of a play that was both a Pulitzer prize finalist and winner of the Tony award for best play, by a playwright I already know I like a lot. This seems much safer.

So, Stephen Karam's play, The Humans, at SHN. This is sort of interesting to me from a business standpoint. I've been assuming we'll see this play show up at one of the bigger regional theaters in the area (such as ACT or Berkeley Rep) in the next year or two, but now that it's doing a national tour, including a fairly brief stop at the Orpheum in San Francisco, I figure it will either be later than that, or perhaps at a smaller theater, which would not be a bad thing. I would love to see this show in a more intimate setting. But I get ahead of myself.

The Play

The Humans is a family drama set at Thanksgiving dinner in a run-down apartment in lower Manhattan's Chinatown. Brigid and her partner Richard have just moved in, so dinner is somewhat ad hoc, as are the furnishings. Brigid's working-class, Irish Catholic family is coming to dinner. It's a multi-generational gathering, with Brigid's lesbian lawyer sister, Aimee, their parents, Erik and Deirdre from Scranton, and Erik's mother, "Momo," who is suffering from dementia, probably Alzheimer's. And then there is Richard, who is sort of vaguely ethnic, and we see hints of privilege in his background.

As we move from awkward greetings to seeing the small, ill-furnished apartment, we also hear loud noises from an apartment above, the source of which is somewhat obscure. [This reminds me of a college apartment where I was sure the upstairs neighbors sometimes tried to dribble bowling balls.] We slowly begin to see the financial and health challenges that virtually all members of the family are facing.

A lot of the cleverness of the play comes from the slow unveiling of all the issues. Karam manages not to hit us with too much at once, and much is left to our interpretation and to later reveals. It's really quite masterfully done, so I don't want to write too much here that might spoil it for those who have not seen or read the play.

Suffice it to say that no one is really doing all that well, and it's a combination of the economy, health issues, and some personal choices. The family bonds, though tenuous at times, are apparent, and make it hard to dismiss the characters as fictional inventions. It may not be your family, but it definitely feels like a family.

The play finishes strongly, and with lots of thought-provoking ambiguities that make for terrific post-performance discussion topics.

The Production

My wife had the good fortune to see the Broadway production with her mother a couple of years back, but I had only read the script, not seen the show produced. Although none of the award-winners are in the touring cast (the only holdover from Broadway is Lauren Klein as Momo), the ensemble is solid. I was mildly concerned that there are a couple of "name" actors whose strongest credits are on television as the parents: Richard Thomas ("John Boy" of "The Waltons" in my youth) as Erik, and Pamela Reed as Deirdre. I find that TV actors in particular aren't necessarily the best stage actors, but these were fine and blended well with the rest of the cast.

My wife noted that there are some distinct casting and directorial choices in the touring production that differ from the Broadway production. For example, Deirdre has issues with food, and talks a lot about being on Weight Watchers. On Broadway she was played (in a Tony Award-winning performance) by Jayne Houdyshell, who is fairly heavy, where Reed is certainly not. It's not an issue in the play, but it does change the way you interpret some of her lines. Similarly, Aimee (Therese Plaehn) in the touring company plays the role a lot lighter, less morosely than her Broadway predecessor. My wife also noticed that Richard (Luis Vega) has a more distinctly ethnic look in the touring company, which also makes one look a little differently at his character and the way Brigid's (Daisy Eagan) family relates to him.

The set is slightly elaborate, as it's a two-floor apartment (ground floor and basement) with stairs between, and only a single bathroom, upstairs. The difficulty of moving between floors becomes part of the plot, but so does the open flow of sound on the stairs. So the set design and lighting are both important aspects of the play, and they work well here. On the other hand, it's a small play, and most of the action takes place around a small table for dinner, so in many ways I would rather see the show in a more intimate space where one could see the actors more closely. The Orpheum is not exactly conducive to that kind of experience.

Bottom Line

This is the third of Karam's plays that I've seen. We stumbled onto his first show, Speech and Debate, some years ago in New York and were blown away by it. Then we saw Sons of the Prophet, a year and a half ago at New Conservatory Theatre Center, and thought it was also a terrific piece of writing. So we were excited to see this new, award-winning play.

The production does not disappoint. It's a powerful, emotional play, despite the fact that the emotions are often held in check by the characters. There's a lot going on, on a lot of levels, which is a tribute to both the writing and the performance.

Unfortunately, the tour was only in San Francisco for about two weeks, and we caught it almost at the end, so it has already moved on to Los Angeles. I'm already eager to find out when the show will come to a local theater, because I definitely want to see it again, hopefully up close this time.

Keep an eye open for Stephen Karam plays. I know there will be more, and his track record so far says they will be good.