See it if you enjoy modern plays about the American Experience of today.
Don't see it if this play might be a little difficult if you're not a seasoned theater-goer or don't follow current events.
See it if you enjoy 'small' intense family drama and psychological study
Don't see it if you like more upbeat, cheery entertainment
See it if You like family dramas performed by some great talent!
Don't see it if You tire easily of family drama
See it if you enjoy character driven plays w/ family drama & lots of dialogue. It has a great ensemble & the staging works well. The show moves well.
Don't see it if you don't like character driven plays that include awkward family drama including a family member w/ dimentia & coping w/ 9/11 aftermath
See it if you come from a family, you are a human
Don't see it if you aren't willing to see something modern
See it if You like stories with fully-developed characters, superb acting, or a memorable story that makes you laugh AND cry.
Don't see it if You're looking for a hefty drama and not a slice-of-life story.
See it if you want to see a perfect play that shows love in its rawest form.
Don't see it if you don't prefer to laugh and cry in the same show (because you'll do both).
See it if You want a play that will make you think even as it entertains. A superb cast. Intelligently written.
Don't see it if You don't like a family drama that starts out very funny and takes a darker turn.
"This talented writer has an innate sense of dramatic tension and theatricality, he also has a rare understanding that you do not need to pop pills for tragedy to bang on your door...A truly remarkable and exceptionally moving play...Mantello, whose work is self-effacing, clearly understands the quality of this play — which represents a whole new level for Karam...Few writers of his generation have achieved anything quite like 'The Humans.'"
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“It’s amazing what the playwright and director pull off here…It’s often startlingly funny, and keeps an emotional grip on its audience throughout. The ending even adds a whiff of quasisupernatural terror that somehow doesn’t feel out of place…Aside from the sharp, nuanced writing, credit must go to the ensemble...They’re like the show as a whole, moving stealthily and laying waste to your heart.“
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"Thanks to Karam’s script and the ensemble’s performances, every slight, every shared memory, and every knowing glance feels utterly lived in. The brilliant direction by Joe Mantello helps hugely with believability as well…Karam’s transcendently mundane play is a reminder that family dinner dramas can still be surprising — and they doesn’t need ghosts or things that go bump in the night to achieve that. Real life is scary enough."
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"Unapologetically depressing and lacking in narrative. Its pretentious and generic title is also a turnoff. Nevertheless, it makes for a compelling and often terrifying character portrait...The actors deliver vulnerable, truthful performances while also handling simultaneous action on the two-story set, overlapping dialogue and many silent pauses."
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"Karam’s exquisite family drama, so lovingly transferred to Broadway, is a flawless gem. Director Joe Mantello has deepened the play’s tragicomic elements, capturing the dynamics of a family you may not know but will surely recognize...The cast is superb…Karam’s play is a mirror reflecting our absurd humanity. We laugh and we cry amid the worst challenges. But through it all, there’s family - for better or worse - to cushion the blow."
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"Under Mantello's sensitive direction, the whole production has kept up an aura of lingering dread. In fact, the performances seem sharper in this Broadway transfer...Through brutal realism, Karam presents a family careering toward disaster with little in the way of an evasive action plan. For too many Americans, that situation alone will feel painfully uncanny — so much so that you won't be able to look away."
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"Horror occurs in countless forms and at varying degrees, describing a sweeping range of experiences that define who we are. Perhaps the greatest marvel of the many in 'The Humans,' the outstanding new play at the Helen Hayes, is just how many of these playwright Stephen Karam and director Joe Mantello manage to pack into their fusion-charged 95-minute evening."
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"This outstanding ensemble has settled more deeply into their characters...Karam writes plays that are timely meaningful reflections on the human condition...Karam skillfully establishes the situation and develops the family dynamic with dialogue so real you feel you're eavesdropping. But even Joe Mantello's directorial expertise can't prevent this theatrical platter from coming off as piled somewhat too high with problems. Fortunately, the actors manage to deflect from this."
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