The Humans Reviews

from Danville, California

ALL AMERICAN FAMILY? LOVED IT!

Our family of 4, 2 adults and 2 teens, attended the show last night and I was pleasantly surprised to see Richard Thomas as one of the actors. It covered in snippets, financial struggles, dieting, sexual orientation, career or lack there of, religion, marriage, dementia, chronic illness, everything but politics, YAY!!! They covered all of this and did so in a humorous yet real way. I think much of what played out showed the complexity of American life and struggles often encountered along the way. A mix of turmoil and love. We all really enjoyed the show, even the teens!

Samuel from Washington, DC

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN GOOD AND AVERAGE...

Had it not been proclaimed to be the best play of the year (2016), it would have been placed in the right category - that of a good quality drama with witty dialogue, liveliness (no prolonged "dull moments"), solid professional acting and resourceful stage design (a well-earned 4 stars). Alas, this play was over-rated and advertised as something out of this world, which is far from being the case. And that's the reason why I'm giving it 3 stars - I feel a little "deceived" by excessive trumpeting over a mainstream play, well, maybe slightly above the mainstream, if I wanted to be lenient. :)

Janelle from San Francisco, California

NO MOMENTUM OR THEME

The entire time I watched, I knew i was watching a play. No moment did it suck me in. I felt like i was watching snarky family banter with no direction. I don't think this displayed any talent of the writer. My view of the show was the best thing.

Barb from Tempe, Arizona

DISAPPOINTED

“The Humans” could be a fine show. However, my husband and I have season tickets in the balcony, and for the first 20 minutes, as well as anytime the blocking took the cast away from the dinner table, we couldn’t see the cast from their shoulders up. It was impossible to engage with the story. It was difficult to catch the dialogue since Gamage’s sound system isn’t great. Perhaps we would have enjoyed the play and what is probably a great set (we couldn’t see half of it) if it had been in a smaller, more intimate theater, though with a two story set, that could be difficult. Our seats and sight lines haven’t been an issue for any of the other productions this season. There were so many empty seats in the balcony- it’s too bad that we couldn’t have all moved closer, but with no intermission, it wasn’t possible.

J.D. Conley from Dallas, Texas

A DULL SLICE OF LIFE

I guess I'm rube. This was a Pulitzer finalist? Why? The Humans portrays a typical middle class American family that gathers happily for a holiday meal and winds up sharing more of their separate problems than anyone wants to know. In other words: annoyingly realistic and boring. I don't need an expensive evening of theater to see that. Karam should have whittled this one act in half and written a second act in which something meaningful happens.

Season Ticket Holder from Des Moines, Iowa

WISH I HAD SOLD MY SEASON TIX TO THIS ONE

One of the worst plays I've ever seen - and I've seen Shakespeare performed entirely in Russian! I took my husband because he loves Richard Thomas, and I was delightfully surprised to see Pamela Reed was co-starring. (I'm surprised this combo wasn't publicized a bit more.) They were great; all the actors were strong. The set was intriguing. And there was the occasional strong humorous line, and the storyline is relatable. It's just the entirety of the content, man. Talk about a bag of downers! Alzheimers, alcoholism, loss of jobs, loss of love, aging, age-gap...oh, and death. But the kicker? The nail in the coffin? The last 10-15 minutes of the play is performed virtually in the dark! One lantern that allows acting via silhouette. And when the lights went black, no one clapped because we didn't know whether or not it was over. No wonder they held a talk session afterwards - people couldn't understand it! I would have given it 1 star, but the strong cast wouldn't let me.

Elizabeth Horton from Los Angeles, California

YAAAWN

Agree that it was a LONG one act that went nowhere. An intermission would have been a welcome relief from the sitcom subject, all it needed was a laugh track. I think the big noise was the ongoing construction of the parking garage because the only drama in the afternoon was trying to find our car. There were more interesting characters wandering around the 8 level horribly marked subterranean catacombs clicking their beepers with hopeless faces. The satisfying ending the play lacked was provided when, 45 minutes later, with sore feet and parched throats, we found the car.

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