"The Humans": A Realstic Portrait of a Modern American Family

Stephen Karam’s “The Humans” is a comedy-drama exploring the randomness of life and the demise of the American Dream. Throughout the 85-minute play, there is a balance of solace and suffering between characters that mirror American family life in today’s economy. For the Blake clan, nothing has turned out as they expected it would.

The play takes place in a Chinatown apartment where the Blakes, mom Deirdre (Jayne Houdyshell), father Erik (Reed Birney), oldest daughter and lawyer Aimee (Cassie Beck) and Erik’s dementia ridden mother Momo (Lauren Klein) have driven from Scranton to New York for Thanksgiving dinner with youngest daughter Brigid (Sarah Steele) and her boyfriend Richard (Nick Mills) in their new rundown duplex apartment.

Each family member brings their own insecurities, fears and sense of loss to the dinner. Birney and Houdyshell shine as a couple mentally but not financially ready for retirement and burdened with taking care of Erik’s senile mother. Daughter Aimee has just gone through a bad breakup, has a severe digestive condition, is searching for a new law firm to join and barely escaped the September 11 attacks. Brigid spent years studying to become a composer but works as a bartender and Momo can only communicate in nonsensical outbursts.

The apartment has an unconventional and impractical layout, evokes loud strange noises and has numerous blackouts, heightening the play’s theme that the world is a dark, scary and unpredictable place.

“The Humans” received four 2016 Tony Awards and was named Best Play of the Year by The New York Drama Critic’s Circle.

Now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre through July 29.