A Review: 'The Humans' Opens At The Ahmanson

L-R: Reed Birney, Cassie Beck, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein, Sarah Steele and Nick Mills in
The Humans at the Ahmanson Theatre presented by Center Theatre Group.
Written by Stephen Karam and directed by Joe Mantello, The Humans will run through July 29, 2018. 

By Darlene Donloe

Human beings are loving, fragile, funny, emotional, affectionate, broken, forgiving, considerate, vulnerable, adaptable, remorseful, compassionate, amiable, sarcastic, fractured, philosophical, sensible, disappointing, annoying, practical, anxious, empathetic, frank, witty, impartial and intuitive.  These are just some of the adjectives that can describe someone.

All of the above are represented at one point or another in Stephen Karam’s 2016 Tony Award-winning Best Play, The Humans, playing now through July 29 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, the last stop of the national tour.

The simplest way to describe The Humans is to call it a comedy/drama about the Blake’s, an ordinary, lower-middle-class family that meets for Thanksgiving dinner at Brigid, the youngest daughter’s (Sarah Steele) new two-story apartment in lower Manhattan – mere miles from where the Twin Towers went down.

The Irish American family consists of a meddling mother named Deirdre (Jayne Houdyshell), a father named Erik (Reed Birney), his Alzheimer-ridden-wheelchair-bound mother named Momo (Lauren Klein), their two daughters Aimee (Cassie Beck) and Brigid (Sarah Steele) and Brigid’s affluent-live-in boyfriend (Nick Mills). Each one is going through something. All of their problems manifest and play out in a variety of ways – the biggest ending with a kind of mystery.

Erik has been working at a job for 28 years, yet, when it should be smooth sailing, his future is uncertain. His wife, Deirdre is an office manager who still isn’t making a decent wage and is now under the thumb of a boss decades younger. Aimee’s ill health has cost her a job at a law firm. Brigid is an aspiring composer, who is working two bartending jobs and is facing a pile of student loan debt. 

Erik, who has been having sleepless nights and weird nightmares about a faceless woman – also has a huge secret he’s been keeping from his daughters.  Gnawing at him, the father decides to reveal the secret, even though he knows it will hurt everyone in the family.

To his credit, Karam manages, within a one-act play, to work in several human experiences including a breakup, loss of a job, Alzheimer's, losing respect, being under pressure, getting through a scandal, taking care of an elderly and sick relative, starting over, reestablishing trust and overall disappointment.

The show rings with authenticity, especially when it shows the ability for family to push certain buttons.

The strength of this show is the acting, the direction, and David Zinn’s set design, but mostly it’s Karam’s authentic dialogue that drives the show forward and brings a familial familiarity that opens, tugs and breaks the heart.  The show has lots of one-liner zingers. One of the best lines in the show comes from Erik.

"I thought I'd be settled by my age," he tells Richard, "but man it never ends....mortgage, car payments, internet, our dishwasher just gave out.” Don'tcha think it should cost less to be alive?"

The exceptional cast, led by two-time Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello, includes Birney and Houdyshell who are reprising their Tony Award-winning performances, along with previous Broadway company members Beck, Klein, Mills, and Steele.  No weak link in the bunch, these six thespians makes the audience feel like they are actually watching a fractured, yet tight-knit, loving family. 

The Humans, by Stephen Karam, is directed by Joe Mantello.  It stars Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Cassie Beck, Lauren Klein, Nick Mills and Sarah Steele.

The Humans, 8 p.m., Tues-Fri; 2 and 8 p.m. Sat., 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. No performance on Mondays. Exceptions: No 8 p.m. performance on Wednesday, July 4; Added 2 p.m. performance on Thursday, July 5; through July 29, 2018; Intermission: The Humans is performed without an intermission; $30-$130; Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave. in Downtown L.A. 90012; Online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, Center Theatre Group Audience Services at 213.972.4400, or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office at The Music Center.

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent), The Humans gets an E (excellent).