The first time I saw “The Humans,“ I thought it a good play about how we hide dysfunction within a family. After seeing the current production at Home Made Theater, which runs through Sunday, I realize it’s really more about how love can overcome dysfunction within a family.
Stephen Karam has written an amazingly textured and layered play about family. It is a work filled with love. Love as a healing emotion and love as a potentially destructive force. It’s a play about family and how a changing society influences its dynamic.
Among the many examples of misguided love within “The Humans” is the love the mother, Deirdre, has for her children. Tenderly played by Jocelyn Khoury, the passive-aggressive helicopter mom is always unintentionally annoying to her family.
Sometimes, the annoyance is undeserved, as when her atheist daughter is offended by having her devout Roman Catholic mother giving her a statue of the Blessed Virgin as a housewarming gift To illustrate how Karam finds humor in such moments, the daughter Bridget uttering, “Oh look, snake and all,” breaks all tensions.
Another example of love gone painful is that older daughter, Aimee, has just broken up with her long-term girlfriend. Antionette Fasino is expert in making the audience feel the despair of being in a situation where romantically, health wise and professionally, everything goes wrong. The only support system she has is family, who despite the best of intentions, can do little more than be empathetic.
And so it goes with the rest of the family. Hosting Thanksgiving dinner is Bridget and her live-in boyfriend who have just moved into a seedy part of Chinatown in NYC.
Jessie House as Bridget effectively shows her need for her parents’ approval, even as they irritate her with constant, benign criticism. Daniel Perez is terrific as the ingratiatingly patient and supportive boyfriend.
Also visiting from Scranton for Thanksgiving dinner in 2013 is “Momo” the wheelchair confined grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. It seems a thankless, unnecessary role, until Mary Ellen Dowling shows why it isn’t.
Under the wise direction of Erin Nicole Harrington, the cast handles the naturalistic tone of the play wonderfully. Many plays are called Chekhovian; “The Humans” truly is.
Harrington’s greatest achievement is making clear Karam’s belief that family dysfunction is not solely about bad parenting. The play suggests that generational differences about religion, career choices, marriage and most of all living in a society lacking compassion for the poor and the elderly are to blame as well.
This is all made clear through the family patriarch, Erik. He is defined by the masterful, understated performance of David Skeele. Erik is a good, but flawed man crushed by life and poor decisions. The most important thing in his life is his relationship with his family, but he no longer knows how to cope with them or life.
As played by Skeele, he is a man who denies his inner turmoil in silence, and by faking being happy. At least until he can pretend no more.
This is a compelling presentation of an important play. The only major problem is a set that intrudes on the performances. The Dee Sarno Theatre is very small and the decision to create the two level space called for in the script on a single level is a major mistake in many ways. It is cramped, awkward and against the play’s description that the only redeeming feature of the apartment is its unusual spaciousness.
Most of all, it is distracting as it limits director Harrington’s blocking choices. The most egregious moment is when Aimee has a deeply personal phone conversation with an ex-lover.
Because of the design, the father and mother are each about a foot away from Aimee. Deirdre is on the lower level, Erik is in the same upstairs room, and their presence dominates and dilutes the moment.
With lesser material and weaker performances this might be disastrous. At Home Made it is a major blemish, but not a reason to miss a terrific production.
“The Humans” continues at the Arts Center on Broadway in Saratoga Springs through Sunday. For tickets and schedule information go to homemadetheater.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
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