THE HUMANS: really?

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 7:03pm

Now that THE HUMANS has been pronounced the great play of this millennium, is there anyone else out there who found it a 95-minute cliche? We've seen these kitchen-sink dramas over and over for countless years, what makes this one so special? I never cared for or about these characters, not from beginning to end. Extremely well-acted, to be sure, and Mantello certainly stages it well on an atmospheric set. And although Karam is a favorite playwright (loved SPEECH AND DEBATE and SONS OF THE PROPHET, thought they were far more provocative and involving), there is no new ground explored here. And the so-called "supernatural" elements never jelled for me. Is there anyone else who feels that this play has been overpraised and over-awarded? Please tell me what I missed today.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 7:09pm

I couldn't agree more. I thought the acting was phenomenal and it is quite well directed, but I turned to my friend after curtain and said "...okay..."

[BroadwayLuv2]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 7:21pm

My partner and I did not care for it at all.  I do not understand all the appeal, hype and awards it has received. Was nothing special but I suppose there is something there that's just not appealing to me.  To each their own :) 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 7:59pm

Agreed with all of the above 

[@z5]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 8:02pm

I honestly think that it's more because that there are SO many different themes and diverse issues within that one family unit is why it has done so well. I feel that each and every person can find something, if not a lot of things to relate it to his/her life. It is unbelievably realistic, and modern.

[carnzee]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 8:09pm

Even though you've seen hundreds of "kitchen-sink" dramas over the years, there isn't anything else like it on Broadway right now. Maybe that is part of the appeal.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 8:51pm

I don't think it's ever been touted as revolutionary or the best play of the decade, but I think it can be applauded for being a very simple, beautiful portrait of an American family. The similarities between my family and the family I saw on stage were staggering. It felt like people I knew, which is great for the direction and the actors. But the play is very beautifully written and simple. It doesn't have the August: Osage County twists or set pieces, it's just simple. And that's different and very slice of life. 

[bandit964]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 9:23pm

It sure is a slice-of-life piece if I've ever seen one.  Beautifully acted.  Saw the play back in Feb/Mar? and just today was talking to my boyfriend about what the f*ck happened.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 9:28pm

I actually just wrote a paper about "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "The Humans" and how they honestly portray the sensibilities of different times. I adored The Humans - especially how relevant each topic it brought up was. Maybe you thought the characters were cliched, but I found each one to be seating portraits of individuals - not characters, but people. And maybe that's why, though nothing monumental happened during the play, I felt completely changed when the lights came up.  

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 11:03pm

I saw Dot at Vineyard a week before The Humans. After the curtain, I was thinking, "Uh, didn't I see this kind of play, like, a week ago, despite a much better written script and more relatable acting?"

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 11:41pm

OK, why I love this play:

For its exquisite mix of farce and tragedy, its nuanced use of symbolism (especially at the final curtain), its consistent intelligence and tonal integrity, its extraordinary humor, the way it captures how some family interactions can serve up joy and bitterness and love and venom in the same breath, and its having its fingers on the pulse of the struggles of ordinary contemporary Americans.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/16/16 at 11:44pm

I can understand why the show doesn't resonate for everyone, since not much really happens in a traditional sense, but I loved it. Others have spoken to this, but I think what struck me most about it- beyond the extraordinary direction, design, and acting- was that the conversation happening on stage worked as a portrait of basically any standard American family today while feeling intensely personal for me as an audience member. I share some traits with the Blake family- my family is from Pennsylvania, Irish Catholic, my parents are about the same age as Erik and Deirdre, and my father's mother is also suffering from dementia. But beyond those details, I found that this family just felt so similar to mine- the way the parents and children are able to cajole and fiercely love each other at the same time, the sometimes cruel resentment Brigid holds towards her parents. One moment in particular made me actually gasp in the theater, because it was almost a word for word conversation I have actually had with my mother. 

The play personally resonated with me on those levels, but I think the reason the play has found success overall is because the family in the story feels so emblematic of contemporary America. The Humans is not an explicitly political play, but when you consider the themes embodied by these characters- fear of ill health, poverty, failure- it's hard not to be reminded of so much of our current political discourse. After all, the biggest fight of the 2008 election was healthcare, and this year one of the biggest is income inequality. I don't know if the play is destined to become one of the all-time greats (though I think Karam is a masterful writer and no doubt will long be considered so) but I think it's the exact right play for the exact right time. 

[jkcaesar2]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:07am

It's unlikely that I'll be able to see this play anytime soon, so I was wondering if someone could please outline its supernatural elements for me and how they fit into the realism of the piece.

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:21am

"We've seen these kitchen-sink dramas over and over for countless years, what makes this one so special?"

I think it's the show's fixation with stinking bathrooms and excremental waste matter that gives it that special cachet to endear it to today's critics and award givers.

So cool, right? How could one doubt for a moment that it would receive hats-in-the-air raves and all the awards under the sun?

[indytallguy]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 4:07am

jkcaesar2 said: "It's unlikely that I'll be able to see this play anytime soon, so I was wondering if someone could please outline its supernatural elements for me and how they fit into the realism of the piece."

 

If you search for its earlier previews thread (and maybe even the reviews thread) you'll find lots of comments about it.

 

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 6:36am

I also thought the staging and acting of this play were first rate but the so-called supernatural elements detracted from the emotional effect. The ending was a complete question mark for me since it either was nothing or something that didn't present itself clearly. I have even heard the theory that the entire plot is in the father's head - he is thinking about how he would tell his family the news. A puzzlement. Worth seeing, but - like others here - once I left the theater, I never gave it another thought.

[nolanativeny]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 7:43am

I actually rather liked it, but it took me a while to get there. I think it's an interesting examination on how both big and little-t trauma affects different people in different ways, and how that plays out in a family system. The supernatural element was unexpected, but upon pondering it I think I understand its use. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 8:06am

^I very much agree that it took me a while to fully appreciate what is happening in The Humans, that it is a play that grows gradually in power.   But that journey of discovery made it all the richer for me.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 9:07am

I found it a very satisfying 70 minutes set within a 90 minute play. The promise of the first 4/5ths of the evening was considerably weakened by the final fifth with it's utterly unconvincing and bafflingly surreal ending. We pondered the point of it all that night over a late dinner, and gave up on giving the show any  deeper resonance than the well-acted kitchen sink drama the OP claimed above. Oh, but those first 70 minutes were really terrific.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:32pm

I've been going to the theatre for more than 50 years now, and I'm still astonished that this play has garnered so much praise. When I saw VIRGINIA WOOLF as a kid, I certainly didn't get it all, but in subsequent viewings, I came to understand its importance as a milestone in theatre. Don't think I'll come to that "aha!" moment with THE HUMANS. I have seen countless variations on the "dysfunctional family" theme over the years, many of them far more interesting than this. Yes, I understood all their pain and anguish and anger, but no, it in no way enlightened or "changed" my life or viewpoint. I did laugh a bit, but I was never moved. I simply found the characters ultimately tiresome and trite.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:53pm

jayinchelsea said: "I've been going to the theatre for more than 50 years now, and I'm still astonished that this play has garnered so much praise. When I saw VIRGINIA WOOLF as a kid, I certainly didn't get it all, but in subsequent viewings, I came to understand its importance as a milestone in theatre. Don't think I'll come to that "aha!" moment with THE HUMANS. I have seen countless variations on the "dysfunctional family" theme over the years, many of them far more interesting than this. Yes, I understood all their pain and anguish and anger, but no, it in no way enlightened or "changed" my life or viewpoint. I did laugh a bit, but I was never moved. I simply found the characters ultimately tiresome and trite."

So after 19 intervening posts, you are basically back where you started: it did not resonate for you as it did for some others and as it also didn't for still other others. Nothing wrong with all that. It seems to be the way this question almost always plays out. 

[kingfan011]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 4:36pm

While I have not seen the show I wonder if the supernatural element acts in the same way that the frog shower acts in one of my favorite films Magnolia. In Magnolia the frog shower is an element of the supernatural or divine in what was an other wise intensely felt and realistic melodrama. Yet I couldn't imagine Magnolia any other way. The frog shower seems to lift the story into something bigger.

[pathman2]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 9:32am

I thought the supernatural elements (much more understated than what I expected based on posts) aligned perfectly with the play's theme that we should be more afraid of ourselves than the things that go bump in the night (aliens, bogeymen, ghosts, etc.). Loved it, but the direction and acting definitely elevated the script for me. 

Updated On: 7/18/16 at 09:32 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 12:34pm

Atlhough I can see some people interpreting the end as magic realism, my take was symbolic, not supernatural.

Updated On: 7/18/16 at 12:34 PM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 1:50pm

I found the play itself to be just okay, certainly nothing profound. Mantello's direction and the performances really elevate it, but I felt Best Play should have gone to King Charles III.