Winner of Four Tony Awards
Plays like Stephen Karam's The Humans don't come along too often. Beloved by critics and audiences alike, this finely wrought comedy drama won four Tony Awards in 2016, including one each for stars Jayne Houdyshell (Follies) and Reed Birney (Netflix's House of Cards), as well as Best Play.
The Humans charts the at times fractious but always loving interplay between The Blakes, a Pennsylvania family uprooted to Manhattan for Thanksgiving. A real actor's showpiece, the play is a compact 95 minutes, with the action taking place in real time. Directed by two-time Tony winner Joe Mantello (An Act of God), this Roundabout Theatre production is a portrait of a flawed but very real family, who are only brought closer together by the arguments and bitter remarks that spill out as the play progresses.
What is The Humans About?
Brigid Blake has just moved to Manhattan with her boyfriend Richard, and what better way to celebrate than invite her family down for Thanksgiving? When her parents, elder sister and grandmother arrive they find a barely furnished apartment, replete with dripping taps, buzzing light bulbs and strange thumps coming through the ceiling. Determined to make the best of things, the Blakes make a start on the dinner, yet the unfamiliar surroundings instils an unusual atmosphere around the table, and they find themselves being far more candid with each other than they have been in years.
Did You Know?
The Gerald Schoenfeld is the production's second and largest Broadway home, having transferred down the block from the Helen Hayes Theater, which closed for refurbishment.