The Humans brings family drama to Elmwood Playhouse

Disclaimer: RCT community editor Sierra Liden appears as a featured actress in Elmwood’s production of The Humans

The Humans is an aptly named show. In their strongest moments, the cast of Elmwood Playhouse’s newest production feel less like performers and more like an actual bickering family that the audience has dropped in on. Spanning the course of a single dinner, The Humans is a compact story detailing a dramatic Thanksgiving with the Blake family, as parents Erik (Larry Reina) and Deirdre (Kelly Kirby) join their eldest daughter Aimee (Rachel Schulte) and their mother “Momo” (Mara Karg) as they visit the new home of their younger daughter Brigid (Sierra Lidén) and her boyfriend Richard (Justin Smith). 

Drama ensues as the audience gradually gets to know the Blakes. The sisters commiserate over their overbearing parents, the parents express disapproval and near paranoia that their youngest daughter has relocated to Chinatown, the boyfriend attempts to awkwardly bond with the father, and the grandmother suffers symptoms of dementia that leave everyone on edge.

 All of these minor conflicts alternate effectively between moments of comedy and tension, bordering on tragedy, as dinner progresses. Brigid heckling her dad for money for therapy is darkly funny; Erik later accusing his daughter of having an easy life and a gratitude problem is uncomfortable to watch, the two of them hugging it out after shouting at each other is appropriately heartwarming. Likewise the sisters shared joy in teasing their mother and exasperation at her less-than-subtle efforts to make them embrace Catholicism is amusing until it isn’t. It’s clear that the Blakes, like any family, cannot clearly distinguish the line between ribbing and insulting. As that line blurs over the course of the evening and frustrations boils over, the shift from comedy to drama is palpable. 

What truly sells the family dynamic is the staging. The Humans is performed on a two tiered set meant to portray a two story apartment. While the audience is always able to see the entire cast, the characters themselves are of course not privy to what is happening on the floor beneath or above them. When Aimee  excuses herself from the table to use the bathroom one floor above, the  audience watches her visibly deflate the moment she is out of her family’s line of sight. When the nearly immobile Momo awakes in a fit of confusion  and stumbles from the couch to the kitchen, her entire family is absent from the room. As the audience  watches the family interact on the floor above, they simultaneously notice Momo relocate and brace for the panic that will ensue when the cast climbs back down the stairs.    

The stress of caring for a vulnerable relative that cannot be left unattended and the frustration of concealing inner turmoil from well meaning, yet exhausting,  parents is not simply communicated through the casts strong performances but amplified by small yet meaningful choices in staging. Other choices, such as the visual metaphor of lights going out in the apartment as the evening becomes more tense, are more on the nose, and while effective lack the subtlety of the more thought out choices in staging.   

As stated, The Humans greatest strength is the chemistry of it’s main players. The story is about the devolution of a family dynamic, and appropriately drops drama bombs and escalates conflict as it builds to its climax. As all of these revelations pile up in real time with no scene breaks, the cast does an admirable job of raising the energy and tension over the course of a tight 90 minutes. While big emotional reactions do feel earned, they can at times also feel rushed, and the commitment to a realistic dynamic can be frustrating as the characters yell over each other while delivering   necessary exposition. 

All told The Humans succeeds in telling a believable and engaging story of a family grappling with past trauma and present challenges. Both funny, tragic and above all relatable, The Humans is a great addition to Elmwood’s catalogue and an exemplary piece of local theater.