The Humans—good title. Perfect, in fact, for this cunning new play by Stephen Karam, inasmuch as his six characters are nothing if not. They gather for 90 minutes to do the most human things: Joke. Eat. Lie. Pray. Ail. Hope. Worry. Bicker. Nap. Monopolize the bathroom. Complain about the neighbors. Try to get a handle on their lives and fail. Their humanity trumps even the demands of conventional narrative; privileging behavior over drama, Karam waits until the last minute to deliver the sensational piece of information with which most other playwrights would start.
The situation is almost comical in its Job-like litany of reversals, real and anticipated. And it’ll get worse still when, as I say, that missing bit of information comes to light. A quiet, perceptive maker of parables, Karam has carefully tailored the Blakes to embody a particular kind of 21st-century American awfulness. Everything is too hard. The precipice is too close. The demands are too great. What we took to be a life spent in the bosom of a generous network of institutions has been revealed as a predatory hoax. Our nest eggs are gone. Our health insurance isn’t meant to protect us. Education is a game of bait and switch. The religious establishment has come to symbolize violation and betrayal. Nine-11 happened, leaving us unsure of our safety even on our own ground. And real estate—well, real estate is ridiculous.
Through 12/21: Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM American Theater Company 1909 W. Byron 773-409-4125atcweb.org $38-$48
