Review: THE HUMANS at The Kennedy Center

In the wake of a marathon holiday season, there is a helluvah lot to love about Stephen Karam's Tony Award-Winning The Humans.

The Humans explores a myriad of issues being faced in America today: the disillusionment of the working middle class, generational role-reversals, and evolving standards of happiness.

In this realistic tragicomedy, three generations of the Blake Family gather in a ground floor duplex in Lower Manhattan to celebrate Thanksgiving with their daughter Brigid (Daisy Eagan, who has the hipster vibe down pat) and her much-older boyfriend, grad-student Richard (Luis Vega, radiating positivity).

Proud residents of Scranton, PA, Brigid's parents, Erik (Richard Thomas, an imposing father figure) and Dierdre (the matriarchal Pamela Reed, aka Leslie Knope's mom), have worked the same jobs for decades and just can't wrap their heads around why their daughter chooses to rent in the very city her grandmother, "Momo" (Lauren Klein, a member of the original Broadway cast and the anchor of the show), worked so very hard to leave behind. After all, she could be a homeowner in Scranton! Here is the question thousands of parents have posed to their children in recent years: Why is what we have not good enough for you?

Brigid, an out-of-work composer and bartender, is saddled with mammoth student loan debt. Rather than sympathy, her situation provokes the ire of her dad who insists she should be grateful for having the opportunity to dream at all. Richard, a trust fund baby from Massachusetts fends off his working-class father-in-law, a smile plastered to his face. And Brigid's sister Aimee (Therese Plaehn), an erstwhile lawyer, bemoans Dierdre's well-intentioned email forwards about lesbians committing suicide.

The Blakes talk over each other and bicker passive aggressively. They poke and prod each other, with a precision born of years of having lived in too-close quarters.

The kids do not have a monopoly on drama. Despite their grin and bear it for the holidays parental mentality, something is up with Dierdre and Erik. Before the end of the night their secret will be revealed and it's up to the family to decide: Are they strong enough to survive it?

Scenic Designer David Zinn's two-story set is a cross section of Brigid's rundown apartment; a right of passage for every self-respecting millennial. The spiral staircase is bookended by a large picture window covered in tinfoil and exposed ceiling pipes decked out with strands of fairy lights.

The staircase receives heavy traffic. Director Joe Mantello's actors trek up and down it, seeking the solace of the second floor; the unofficial time-out zone. There, the characters take a break from family time on the first floor, confer in small groups, and recharge their batteries.

Lighting Designer Justin Townsend's lighting design is an unseen but ever-present and temperamental seventh cast member.

In my experience as a member of a rather vocal and opinionated family, The Humans is a colorful depiction of real life. Every person knows several "Blake Families." You yourself may be a Blake. That's why its so easy to laugh and cry (more laugh then cry, if I'm being honest) alongside the Blakes as they fight to reconcile their competing belief systems.

All in all, the Blakes are a lovely and supportive family that have made a few mistakes. But heck, they're human.

THE HUMANS runs through January 28, 2018 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Theater Lab at 2700 F St. NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets call (202) 467-4600 or click here.

Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, no intermission

Photo Credit: Daisy Eagan and Therese Plaehn. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

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