The Humans

The American playwright Stephen Karam grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. That’s also where the characters of this play - the Blake family - are from. They’ve assembled in a dark, rundown apartment in New York’s Chinatown, where the youngest daughter Brigid has just moved in with her boyfriend. It’s Thanksgiving and the early tensions signal this won’t go well.

Karam’s family drama The Humans was highly acclaimed on Broadway, winning a Tony award for best play. It’s no wonder with this writing. A central moment is a beautifully composed letter from the grandmother Momo, who has dementia, to her granddaughters Brigid and Aimee, from a time when she could still remember their names. Read out by the mother Deirdre, it’s wonderfully moving.

And then there’s the insight: the father Erik, telling Brigid’s boyfriend there is no depression in their family. No, Aimee quips - just stoic sadness. The line draws the night’s biggest laugh, just one of the punchlines in an intense play that’s brought to life by a superb cast.

The Old Fitz Theatre is tiny and Mophead Productions has crammed a two-level duplex in here. The house is central to the play, a character of its own, and you can see why they needed to fit it in. Set designer Jonathan Hindmarsh has done a clever job but the set becomes cramped in such a small space. The actors sometimes have to speak with their backs to the audience - thankfully their delivery is spot-on.

This is an ensemble piece and no-one is weak. Arky Michael is brilliant as Erik, finding a deep pathos in a life veering far off its course. Diana McLean’s portrayal of the grandmother having one of her “bad days” is not just believable but profoundly touching. Every member of the cast excels in delivering poignancy, as well as punchlines: Madeleine Jones as Brigid, Reza Momenzada the boyfriend Richard, Di Adams as the indomitable Deirdre, and Eloise Snape, who also produces, as Aimee. This is independent theatre at its best.

While the set is perhaps too ambitious for this small space, it looks great and with its aural and visual reveals, helps create a powerful ending. Slowly this family’s world descends into a deeply haunting horror. Nightmares become a reality and the humans are truly monsters - particularly for Erik, who is left crushed after so foolishly betraying his family.

The Old Fitz has long staged fine productions of American and British hits and this play earns its place. With such great writing - and actors to deliver the lines - The Humans deserves acclaim.

Peter Gotting

Photographer: Clare Hawley.