The Humans (play)
The Humans | |
---|---|
Written by | Stephen Karam |
Characters |
Erik Deirdre Richard Fiona "Momo" Blake Aimee Brigid |
Date premiered | September 30, 2015 |
Place premiered | Roundabout Theatre Company – Laura Pels Theatre |
Original language | English |
Subject | Family |
Setting | An apartment in lower Manhattan |
Official site |
The Humans is a one-act play written by Stephen Karam. The play opened on Broadway in 2016 after an engagement Off-Broadway in 2015. The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.
Productions
The play had its world premiere at the American Theater Company, Chicago, Illinois in November 2014, directed by PJ Paparelli. Chris Jones, in his review for the Chicago Tribune, wrote: "kind, warm, beautifully observed and deeply moving new play, a celebration of working-class familial imperfection and affection and a game-changing work for this gifted young playwright."[1]
The Humans opened Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre on September 30, 2015 in previews, and officially on October 25, 2015 in a limited run produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company, with positive reviews, and ran until January 3, 2016.[2] It transferred to Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, opening on February 18, 2016 and closing on July 24, 2016. The play then transferred to the Schoenfeld Theatre, re-opening on August 9, 2016. (The Helen Hayes had major renovations starting in August 2016.)[3][4] The play closed its Broadway engagement on January 15, 2017.[5]
Directed by Joe Mantello, the Off-Broadway cast featured Cassie Beck (Aimee), Reed Birney (Erik), Jayne Houdyshell (Deirdre), Lauren Klein (Fiona "Momo" Blake), Arian Moayed (Richard), and Sarah Steele (Brigid). While off-Broadway, the script won the 2016 Obie Awards for Karam's playwriting and Houdyshell's performance.[6] The Off-Broadway cast moved to Broadway.[7][8][9]
The Pittsburgh Public Theater staged The Humans from November 9 to December 10, 2017, directed by Pamela Berlin; it was admiringly reviewed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.[10] Artists Repertory Theatre, located in Portland, Oregon, staged it from November 19 to December 17.[11]
The play embarked on a limited US national tour, starting in November 2017 at the Seattle Repertory Theater.[12] The tour cast featured Richard Thomas as Erik, Pamela Reed as Deirdre, Daisy Eagan as Brigid, Lauren Klein as Momo, Therese Plaehn as Aimee and Luis Vega as Richard.[13] The tour concluded on July 29, 2018 at the Bagley Wright Theatre in Seattle, Washington.[14]
The play opened in London at the Hampstead Theatre in September 2018 and will close on October 13, 2018. The Broadway cast reprise their roles, as does the director Mantello.[15]
Synopsis
At Thanksgiving, the Blake family gathers at the run-down Manhattan apartment in Chinatown of Brigid Blake and her boyfriend Richard. Brigid's parents, Erik Blake and Deirdre Blake, arrive from their home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to have dinner with Brigid, Richard and Aimee, their other adult daughter. Brigid is a musician and Aimee is a lawyer living in Philadelphia. Aimee has recently broken up with her girlfriend and has developed an intestinal ailment. Also present is Erik's mother Fiona "Momo", who has Alzheimer's disease. The parents are unhappy that their daughters have left home and have abandoned their religion. The family members must deal with "aging, illness, and a changing economy".[16]
Critical response
In his review of the Broadway production in The New York Times, Charles Isherwood called it the "finest new play of the Broadway season so far" and praised the cast, direction, and the set "...that perfectly captures the unsettled atmosphere the writing so deftly establishes."[17]
Jesse Green, reviewing the Broadway production for Vulture, wrote: "With its irrational layout and strange, sickening noises, the apartment, as the stage directions put it, is 'effortlessly uncanny,' as is the play itself... It is still the most, well, human play I’ve ever seen about fear and disappointment and the attachments that transcend them."[18]
The Pulitzer Prize committee said of the play: "A profoundly affecting drama that sketches the psychological and emotional contours of an average American family."[19]
Awards and nominations
Original Off-Broadway production
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Lucille Lortel Awards[20][21] | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play | Reed Birney | Nominated |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play | Jayne Houdyshell | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Lauren Klein | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Scenic Design | David Zinn | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Lighting Design | Justin Townsend | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Sound Design | Fitz Patton | Nominated | ||
Drama Desk Awards[22] [23] | Outstanding Play | Won | ||
Drama Desk Special Award for Outstanding Ensemble | Won | |||
Director of a Play | Joe Mantello | Nominated | ||
Lighting Design for a Play | Justin Townsend | Won | ||
Sound Design in a Play | Fitz Patton | Won | ||
Director of a Play | Joe Mantello | Nominated | ||
Obie Awards[24] | Playwriting | Stephen Karam | Won | |
Distinguished Performance by an Actress | Jayne Houdyshell | Won |
Original Broadway production
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Tony Awards[25][26] | Best Play | Won | |
Best Featured Actor in a Play | Reed Birney | Won | ||
Best Featured Actress in a Play | Jayne Houdyshell | Won | ||
Best Scenic Design in a Play | David Zinn | Won | ||
Best Lighting Design in a Play | Justin Townsend | Nominated | ||
Best Direction of a Play | Joe Mantello | Nominated | ||
Pulitzer Prize[19] | Drama | Nominated | ||
Drama League Awards[27][28] | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Won | ||
Distinguished Performance | Reed Birney | Nominated | ||
Jayne Houdyshell | Nominated | |||
Outer Critics Circle Awards[29][30] | ||||
Outstanding New Broadway Play | Won | |||
Outstanding Actor in a Play | Reed Birney | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Actress in a Play | Jayne Houdyshell | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Director of a Play | Joe Mantello | Nominated | ||
New York Drama Critics Circle[31][32] | Best Play | Won |
References
- ↑ Jones, Chris. "Chicago review: 'The Humans' at American Theater Company" Chicago Tribune, November 18, 2014
- ↑ The Humans Archived 2015-11-25 at the Wayback Machine. lortel.org, accessed May 3, 2016
- ↑ Hetrick, Adam and Clement, Olivia. " The Humans Will Transfer to Broadway’s Schoenfeld Theatre" Playbill, June 23, 2016
- ↑ Hetrick, Adam; Clement Olivia. " The Humans Reopens at Broadway’s Schoenfeld Theatre" Playbill, August 9, 2016
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Tony-Winning Humans Ends Broadway Run" Playbill, January 15, 2017
- ↑ Obie Awards, 2016 Winners.
- ↑ Clement, Olivia. "'The Humans' Finds Its Broadway Home and Sets Dates" Playbill, November 24, 2015
- ↑ Clement, Olivia."Stephen Karam's Family Drama 'The Humans' Readies for Broadway" Playbill, January 3, 2016
- ↑ Viagas, Robert. "The Verdict: See What the Critics Had to Say About 'The Humans' on Broadway" Archived 2016-02-20 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill, February 18, 2016
- ↑ Rawson, Christopher. "Stage review: 'The Humans' dishes out comedy with familial discord at Pittsburgh Public Theater Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 19, 2017
- ↑ "2017/18 Season" artistsrep.org
- ↑ Paulson, Michael. "Tony-Winning Play ‘The Humans’ Will Close on Broadway Jan. 15" The New York Times, December 1, 2016
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Richard Thomas, Daisy Eagan, and More Set for National Tour of 'The Humans' " Playbill, October 24, 2017
- ↑ " 'The Humans' National Tour" broadwayworld.com, retrieved September 8, 2018
- ↑ Billington, Michael. " 'The Humans' review – family dinner turns to schlock in uneasy drama" The Guardian, September 7, 2018
- ↑ Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review. The Humans ", curtainup.com, March 2, 2016
- ↑ "Review Roundup: Stephen Karam's The Humans Opens on Broadway – All the Reviews!", broadwayworld.com, February 18, 2016
- ↑ Green, Jesse. "Theater Reviews: The Humans and Old Hats, Polar Opposites of Excellence", Vulture, February 18, 2016
- 1 2 "Winners" pulitzer.org, accessed May 3, 2016
- ↑ " The Humans Off-Broadway" lortel.org, accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ "2016 Lucille Lortel Award Nominations Announced" playbill.com, March 30, 2016
- ↑ Viagas, Robert. "'She Loves Me' Leads Drama Desk Nominations", Playbill, April 28, 2016
- ↑ Cox, Gordon. "2016 Drama Desk Awards: ‘Shuffle Along,’ ‘The Humans’ Come Out on Top (Full List)" Variety, June 5, 2016
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Winners Announced for 61st Annual Obie Awards" Playbill, May 23, 2016
- ↑ Viagas, Robert. "'Hamilton' Wins 11 Tony Awards; 'Humans 'Named Best Play" Playbill, June 12, 2016
- ↑ "See Full List of 2016 Tony Award Nominations", Playbill, May 3, 2016
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "2016 Drama League Awards Nominations Announced" Playbill, April 20, 2016
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Winners of Drama League Awards Announced" Playbill, May 20, 2016
- ↑ Viagas, Robert. "2016 Outer Critics Circle Nominees Announced" playbill.com, April 19, 2016
- ↑ Viagas, Robert. "Bright Star and The Humans Win Top 2016 NY Outer Critics Circle Awards" Playbill, May 9, 2016
- ↑ "'Shuffle Along' and 'The Humans' Win NY Drama Critics’ Circle Awards", Playbill, May 5, 2016
- ↑ "2015–2016 Awards" dramacritics.org, accessed May 6, 2016
External links
- Internet Broadway Database
- The Humans Live on the American Theatre Wing's documentary series "Working in the Theatre"