Hi everyone! No you didn’t read that wrong, I’m reviewing a play today! I recently saw The Humans and wanted to review it for you.
The Humans was the 2016 Tony Awards Best Play and it was a part of my subscription for Broadway in Chicago.
I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing it. I do enjoy plays, just not as much as musicals and to be honest I was considering skipping it. I just had so much to get done. But I’d already paid for it and so I decided to go.
The play centers around a family. Brigid is one of the sisters and recently moved out with her older boyfriend, Richard. They have moved from Scranton, Pennsylvania (I kept thinking of The Office) to New York City. Her parents, Erik and Dierdre, along with Brigid’s sister, Aimee, and Erik’s mother, Momo, have driven in to visit for Thanksgiving dinner.
Without realizing it, the members of the family all feel alone in their problems although they all clearly want to be there for each other. Brigid is a struggling musician who is bartending at two bars in between jobs. Erik and Dierdre are worn out caring for Momo, while trying to balance financing for that and their dream of a lake house for the family. Each of them, along with Aimee have health problems (physical and mental) and Aimee is dealing with a difficult breakup with her ex-girlfriend.
Through the course of the play we see how each member of the family is disappointed at the rest due to an ill-perceived notion that they’re not supportive and a real notion of a lack of understanding.
I really enjoyed how real the characters were and how amazing the acting was. Brigid was played by Daisy Eagan and I was so surprised and excited when I read her name on the playbill. She won a Tony Award when she was Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden. Dierdre was played by Pamela Reed who was actually Leslie Knope’s mom in Parks and Recreation so I was super surprised when I realized that while reading the playbill yesterday. I really enjoyed both the character of Aimee and the acting of Therese Plaehn.
Overall I felt the play did go a bit long. It was an hour and a half long without an intermission. I did see a few people leaving the theatre throughout the performance which was saddening. One was an older woman who left maybe half way through and the others were a couple who were seated next to me who left maybe two thirds of the way through. It was strange as when they left I was the only person left in my row and I could have sworn there were more people there so perhaps I just hadn’t noticed them leaving or I’m making it up.
The theatre was pretty empty actually. I was in the lower balcony and there had been an offer to move to orchestra for free to subscribers so I imagine that level was pretty empty too due to people who decided not to go. (I missed that as I didn’t see the email in time and then forgot to call in later to see if there were still upgrades available.) I’m hoping it’s mostly due to the snow we were supposed to get all day rather than people who just didn’t want to go to a play but somehow I think that might have had something to do with it.
While I wouldn’t say I would go out of my way to see this play I did find it enjoyable and I would consider a play in the future. However my preference is musicals and I can’t wait to see another!
Let me know what you think of plays and if you’ve seen this one. I’d love to know!
Thanks for reading!
Pamela
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Looks like an interesting story! I also thought of The Office when I read Scranton 😂
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Haha I knew I couldn’t be the only one!!
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I can’t remember the last time that I’ve been to a play. Actually I can, but it’s too embarrassing to say. I enjoy plays very much. As a teacher, one of my favorite things was reading plays with the class. The students also loved it. I loved to see how each class had their own ways of interpreting the characters. I do miss that.
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Haha fair enough. I always liked reading plays in school but I hated that we were forced to read them aloud. That always caused me soooo much anxiety!!!
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Most of my students were dying for parts. I had to pull names from a jar and first come first serve. I always told them that if they didn’t want to read a part to give it to let someone else have it because no one wants to listen to a miserable sucky reading. Every once in a while I’d force someone to take a tiny role just to push them out of their comfort zone, and it’d turn out fine. Our minds tend to make things worse than they are.
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True. I remember I got mad once because it was the one time I asked to read for Juliet but the teacher gave it to someone else and I had to be the nurse. Then the girl she picked didn’t show up to class half the time. I’m still mad lol!
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Oh yes, Romeo and Juliet was a nightmare! Everyone wanted it. I ended up breaking the reading up into 2 parts so that we could have 2 Juliets and 2 Romeos. It was the only way to avoid getting shanked in the parking lot 😅.
I can totally understand you. I practiced my Juliet from middle school just waiting for my chance to read it someday and the teacher gave it away to some other girl. I’m also still mad.
It funny because my students finally asked me one day if I wanted the part! I reeked of desperation 😂😂😂
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Hahahaha! I think we’re going to have to put on a Romeo and Juliet reading. We can take turns being Juliet so we can finally get that chance!!
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Depending on our budget, we may have to take turns with playing Romeo as well! lololol
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HAHAHA! Perfect! That would be so fun though!
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I completely agree with you about plays! I much prefer a musical! I had that happen to me! I was sitting front row mezzanine and a group of people left in the middle. 💗
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Yes! They are just so much more my style haha. It’s so strange to see people just leave but I get it if they’re really not enjoying it.
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Your nails are cute! And that’s so sad that people left and a lot didn’t even show up! I’m glad you were able to enjoy the play, though. I like plays a lot but musicals are a lot more fun to me, too! ;D
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Thanks! Yeah, I think it is because plays just aren’t as glitzy as a musical I suppose. But it was quite good and I’m happy I saw it!
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[…] The Humans Play – This was a part of my Broadway in Chicago subscription and was my first event of the year. It was at the Cadillac Palace and was the only play of the year. It wasn’t my favorite but it was interesting to experience. I actually went alone to this one so I was glad because I’m not sure anyone I know would have really enjoyed it. […]
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