Review: Stellar Ensemble Stars in THE HUMANS at Elmwood Playhouse

What does it mean to be human? Dramatists have taken a shot at addressing that existential riddle since the Greeks. Arthur Miller essayed the soul-crushing weight of a life filled with profound regret in the perennially powerful “Death of a Salesman.” Thornton Wilder clarified the universality and humility of everyday life in the timeless “Our Town.” In neither case are judgments made by the writer. That’s the audience’s job. 

In “The Humans,” on stage at Elmwood Playhouse in Nyack (N.Y.) through Dec. 7, playwright Stephen Karam forgoes conventional narrative to strip bare the goings-on in an unremarkable American family who’ve gathered for Thanksgiving in a claustrophobic, creaky walkup in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Mr. Karam casts a microscopic eye on what makes we humans tick, warts and all. 

The vertical set design, by Eric Zobak (also technical director), is a character in itself. He uses a cross-section visual effect to simulate what it would be like to peer into the interior of a two-floor rental shoe-horned into lower Manhattan, not far, as father Erik Blake points out, from where the Twin Towers fell. 

Keeping with the organic feel of “The Humans,” at times actors are seen simultaneously on different levels – such as two above, on the second floor, four below, on the first floor – cross-talking with each other, which happens regularly in the play, as it does in real life.

There is a spiral wrought-iron stair that gets a lot of use. Moving the wheelchair-bound grandmother between floors via elevator (or what passes for one) goes off without a hitch. 
Juggling the six actors on two levels is a challenge for any director, but Lisa Spielman is not just any director, and she orchestrates the actors’ split-level movements smoothly, avoiding what otherwise could look like gridlock. 

One of the hallmarks of the roughly 95-minute one-act – winner of the 2016 Tony award for Best Play – is that it proceeds in real time. That structure gives what we’re witnessing an immediacy and rawness – and realness – that is a commodity for any stage work. In fact, that’s what separates live theater from cinema: the first is supposed to get in your face in the same space while the latter exists in its own time and space.

What also is compellingly different about “The Humans” is that instead of a story that’s been manufactured by a deus ex machina, Mr. Karam’s sleight-of-hand makes it appear to us that, rather than act out someone’s scripted story, these characters are performing improv. Their triggers include health,weight, job security, fidelity, faith, sexuality, financial security, relationships, generation gap – the usual stuff that dreams – good and bad – are made of. The spontaneity the author has crafted in how these subjects are broached – call it theater verite – is a high order of bold stagecraft that is to be valued by adventurous theatergoers thirsty for the discovery of something different.  

For that verite vibe to work its magic requires a high order of acting, and veteran director Lisa Spielman has cast Elmwood’s production with that requisite caliber of talent. 

The nature of the piece rests on the six-person ensemble being very generous with each other so that the rhythm and authenticity of their interactions ring true, absent artifice.There also is no shortage of organic humor that surfaces from their exchanges. These are not Neil Simon gags. They are insightful observations of the human condition that give us permission to laugh at ourselves, because that’s who we are watching – ourselves.

This ensemble meshes so integrally, singling out individuals seems to betray their unity; they all deserve high praise. The family is anchored by father Erik Blake (Larry Reina) and mother Deirdre Blake (Kelly Kirby). Both are superlative actors of long standing in this region and their mastery of these portrayals creates a solid foundation for the rest of the excellent cast. 

Erik has a confession to make, which doesn’t surface till late in the play, but, even when not speaking, Mr. Reina lets us know in the subtlest of ways that something is distracting him, other than the bottle of beer he holds onto for dear life. 

As the distraught Deirdre, the endlessly versatile Kelly Kirby projects a profound maternal gravitas mixed with anxiety about the various emotional states of her family members, not to mention coping with her own fragile state of mind.

Sierra Liden and Rachel Schulte shine brightly in their roles as siblings Brigid and Aimee (respectively), whose lives are headed in decidedly different directions. Their empathy for each other, and for their embattled parents, is palpable. As Brigid’s live-in boyfriend Richard Saad, Justin Smith smoothly conveys the carefree, cool demeanor that would become someone who is a trust fund baby, as he is.

With little to say other than garbled word salads she blurts out unexpectedly, Mara Karg as grandmother “Momo” Blake, afflicted by Alzheimer’s, makes her ghostly presence indelibly known, as if she’s a hovering oracle to remind her descendants they are expected to be on good behavior – and to remind us of honoring the wisdom and grit of the forebears who got us here. 

The wordless finale of “The Humans” is ripe for interpretation. If Erik feels trapped by faceless demons of his own making, the author might be wondering who doesn’t go through at least some of life groping in the dark for a glimmer of meaning, searching for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel to deliver us a merciful measure of salvation. What more can we ask? After all, we’re only human.
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Other credits include Lighting Design by Deanna Koski, Costume Design by Claudia Stefany, Sound Design by Lisa Spielman. Stage Manager is Samantha Fiumara. Wendy Portney is Producer of “The Humans.” 
Elmwood Playhouse is 30 minutes from northern Westchester, in Rockland County at 10 Park Street, Nyack, N.Y. 10960. Tickets are $30, discounted to $27 for seniors, students, and service members.  Visit elmwoodplayhouse.com or call the Elmwood Playhouse box office at (845) 353-1313. 

Pictured is cast of “The Humans” (from left) Justin Smith, Sierra Lidén, Kelly Kirby, Mara Mittleman Karg, Larry Reina, Rachel Schulte. Photo by Omar Kozarsky

 

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