‘The Humans’: Thanksgiving meets ‘Twilight Zone’

‘THE HUMANS’: (left to right) Sarah Steele, Arian Moayed, Jayne Houdyshell & Lauren Klein. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE HUMANS
Written by Steven Karam
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through December 27, 2015
Laura Pels Theatre
111 West 46th Street
(212-719-1300), www.Roundabouttheatre.org

By David NouNou

Stephen Karam is one of the most promising and exciting new playwrights to have emerged in the last 10 years. So I was most anxious to see what his follow-up to the exquisite 2011 production of Sons of the Prophet would be, and true to form, he has lived up to his early promise with The Humans.

For The Humans, he has created a puzzle in which all the pieces should fit together seamlessly but amazingly all the pieces have imperceptible jagged edges where nothing fits. The puzzle might as well have the setting of a “The Twilight Zone” episode and the outer parameter of the puzzle is centered on one of the most iconic American holidays, Thanksgiving. The Blake family has driven all the way from Scranton, Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with their younger daughter in her new basement duplex apartment in lower Manhattan, NYC.

As in Sons of the Prophet, everyone here carries a heavy burden and each person carries their burden in silence…until that fateful moment. Eric (Reed Bierney) and Deidre (Jayne Houdyshell) Blake have come with their older daughter, Aimee (Cassie Beck), and Momo (Lauren Klein), their Alzheimer-riddled mother, in what appears to be celebrating Thanksgiving with their younger daughter, Brigid (Sarah Steele) and her boyfriend Richard Saad (Arian Moayed) in what most any family would deem as a happy get-together and that’s all you’re going to get out of me.

I say this because I truly believe that each viewer has to formulate his or her own opinion when first viewing a new piece of such magnitude. It is unfair both to the playwright and the audience to divulge more information because it hinders the experience and the layers that the writer has imbued in this piece.

As directed by Joe Mantello, he extracts excellent performances from each of his cast members; however the veterans Reed Bierney and Jayne Houdyshell are standouts. In the wrong hands, this could have been a maudlin evening, but in Mr. Mantello’s hands, he keeps his cast and things moving at a fast-pace. I have to add that David Zinn’s set is a visual treat. His duplex anchors the show and all that is about to unfold.

This is a theatrical experience that is most enjoyable in a small, almost claustrophobic venue, so I urge you to see it at the Laura Pels Theatre. For this particular Thanksgiving dinner, you have to be a guest and not an audience member.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 29, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on October 28, 2015

‘THE HUMANS’: (left to right) Cassie Beck, Arian Moayed, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein & Sarah Steele. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE HUMANS’: (clockwise from top) Sarah Steele, Cassie Beck, Arian Moayed, Jayne Houdyshell & Reed Birney. Photo: Joan Marcus