The Humans
by Stephen Karam

Name: The Humans
Brand: Stephen Karam
SKU: 9780822235279
Rating: 3.91 (1508 reviews)

Broadway Off-Broadway Off-West End

The Humans Book Cover — The Humans Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

105 mins Present Day Role(s) for Senior Actor(s) Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes American Comedy

Awards & Recognition

Drama Desk Award Obie Award Outer Critics Circle Pulitzer Prize Tony Award

Winner! Four 2016 Tony Awards, including Best Play Finalist: 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winner! 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play Winner! Four 2016 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding play Winner! Two 2016 Obie Awards, including Best Play

Synopsis

Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in lower Manhattan.

As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex, eerie things start to go bump in the night and the heart and horrors of the Blake clan are exposed.

Press Reviews

"The Humans explores, across an enthralling spectrum of ups and downs, what being a family is all about."
— The Washington Post

"Wrackingly funny even as it pummels the heart and scares the bejesus out of you."
— New York Magazine

"[An] inestimably kind, rich and beautiful play…truly remarkable and exceptionally moving… Few writers of his generation have achieved anything quite like The Humans, a play about the horrors of ordinary life and the love we need to counter them."
— Chicago Tribune

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Deirdre Blake 61, Erik‘s wife	female	—	61, Erik‘s wife
Aimee Blake 34, their daughter	female	—	34, their daughter
Brigid Blake 26, their daughter	female	—	26, their daughter
Fiona “Momo” Blake 79, Erik‘s mother	female	—	79, Erik‘s mother
Richard Saad 38, Brigid‘s boyfriend Author's Note: The Humans explores the fears of a middle class family – not necessarily a white middle class family. Though the family‘s heritage draws from my own background (I am half Irish-American, half Lebanese-American), the primary obsession of the play isn’t unpacking of the Irish-American experience; as such, I hope families of all ethnicities will be gathered around the table in future productions. The casting of actors of color shouldn’t be viewed as a radical concept, nor one that requires the author’s permission.	—	—	38, Brigid‘s boyfriend Author's Note: The Humans explores the fears of a middle class family – not necessarily a white middle class family. Though the family‘s heritage draws from my own background (I am half Irish-American, half Lebanese-American), the primary obsession of the play isn’t unpacking of the Irish-American experience; as such, I hope families of all ethnicities will be gathered around the table in future productions. The casting of actors of color shouldn’t be viewed as a radical concept, nor one that requires the author’s permission.
Erik Blake 60	—	—	60