It’s part drama, part comedy and part horror. It’s the feeling of being a voyeur of a family’s Thanksgiving celebration. And it’s the domino effect of life’s realities interfering with best-laid plans and familial relationships…
It’s “The Humans,” and it’s worth seeing. The recipient of four Tony Awards in 2016, including Best Play, the story revolves around the Blake family, who has traveled from Pennsylvania to the newly rented Chinatown-based Manhattan apartment of their youngest daughter, Brigid, to break bread together for the holiday.
As the evening progresses, secrets once closely held emerge in conversations, and the foundation upon which the family is built begins to teeter from the weight of the admissions from the actors as they move through the evening.
Dappled with comedic moments, this play is a swift 90 minutes (no intermission) that takes a deep dive into the infrastructure of the family: when do parents devolve into the roles of children? When are secrets best kept to one’s self, at the risk of watching trust implode? When do health and emotional issues collide into one, and how are those heightened feelings kept in check?
Director Miguel Reyna is thrilled with the efforts of his team and was ebullient when talking about the production on opening night.
“There are moments and scenes that the cast brings to life, and they are very natural; mostly, though, this is a story about a family who are incredibly relatable and love each other very much,” Reyna said. “They are a functional family, but at this Thanksgiving Day gathering, their individual issues emerge in a way that results in a lot more tension between them. In light of their conversations, the apartment reacts as a character in the play with creaks and groans that help to punctuate the weight of their interactions.”
Bringing a heavy story to life in an engaging and empathic way is no small feat, and the Mountain Community Theater cast and crew have done a remarkable job of turning the Park Hall stage into a grimy, run-down two-story apartment that features all the luxuries of downtown living, including noisy neighbors, barred windows and unwanted visitors.
The crew brought on a contractor for the stage build, given that the second story needed to bear the weight of all the actors, and Cal-OSHA doesn’t have oversight in the theater safety arena.
With only six actors in the production, it’s easy to keep track of each of them and their assorted storylines. Joyce Michaelson and David Leach play parents Deirdre and Erik Blake; Sarah Kauffman Michael and Solange Marcotte play daughters Aimee and Brigid, respectively; Davis Banta is cast as Brigid’s live-in boyfriend, Richard; and Helene Simkin Jara plays Erik’s mother Momo, who is wheelchair-bound and suffering from late stage Alzheimer’s Disease.
Blending these distinctive characters into a brew of real-life struggles results in a consummate story of a family’s divisiveness, expert button-pushing and boundless love, and Michael and Marcotte are happy to be part of the production.
Marcotte says that her character’s invitation to host the Thanksgiving meal at her apartment is meant to illustrate her growth up and away from her family, but old habits die hard, and Brigid finds herself reacting to the unrest between herself and her relatives in ways that mimic her youth.
“Everyone in the play has their own crises that they’re dealing with, and all those crises ram into each other, resulting in family members lashing out at those they love the most,” Marcotte said.
The eldest of the two Blake sisters, Aimee has traveled from Pennsylvania as well to celebrate the holiday, and Michael says her character plays the role of the peacemaker.
“Aimee is very much the thread that ties everyone together, and prides herself on finding the commonalities to smooth over any agitation that exists,” Michael said.
Overall, Director Reyna views “The Humans” as a love story.
“It’s all about knowing that no matter what happens in life, your family will always be there for you, and a family’s love for each other is absolute,” he said.
Appropriate for ages 16-plus, Reyna invites the community to come be a fly on the wall with “The Humans,” running at Park Hall in Ben Lomond through Sunday, April 9. Evening shows begin at 8pm, and Sunday matinees run at 2pm. Masks are required to attend. To purchase tickets, visit mctshows.org.
