Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex, eerie things start to go bump in the night. Soon, family tensions reach a boiling point… and the hilarity, heart and horrors of the Blake clan are exposed.
Roundabout Theatre Company presents the New York premiere of The Humans by Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Karam (Sons of the Prophet, Speech & Debate). Two-time Tony Award® winner Joe Mantello (The Last Ship, Roundabout’s Assassins) directs.
The Humans is part of Roundabout’s New Play Initiative, a collection of programs, designed to foster and produce new work by emerging and established artists. The Humans is Karam’s second play commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company, following his hugely acclaimed Speech & Debate (2007) and Sons of the Prophet (his first Roundabout commission, 2011).
![A young woman in a black floral shirt eats off a paper plate with a plastic fork. To her right is a young man smiling with a beer in front of him.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0180r.jpg)
Arian Moayed and Sarah Steele
Photo by Joan Marcus![An old man sits on a plastic chair and rests his feet on a folding chair at a card table decorated in red solo cups.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0194r.jpg)
Reed Birney
Photo by Joan Marcus![A split level set of a house. On the bottom in a basement, people sit and stand around a folding table with red Solo cups. On top are two women in a sparse room.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0041r1.jpg)
Reed Birney, Sarah Steele, Jayne Houdyshell, Cassie Beck, and Arian Moayed
Photo by Joan Marcus![A young woman sits on the lap of a young man in a folding chair. He rests his head on her shoulder and wraps his arms around her. She holds a red solo cup.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0199r.jpg)
Sarah Steele and Arian Moayed
Photo by Joan Marcus![Two women sit on a wooden floor in a hallway. One lays on her stomach and rests on her elbows, and the other sits cross legged with her hands in her lap.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0069r.jpg)
Sarah Steele and Cassie Beck
Photo by Joan Marcus![A young woman sits on the lap of a young man in a folding chair. Behind them on a sofa lays a very old woman, and a younger old woman sits near her and looks over her shoulder at the couple.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0202r.jpg)
Sarah Steele, Arian Moayed, and Jayne Houdyshell
Photo by Joan Marcus![A family stands around an entry way in their house. An older couple puts their arms around each other. A young woman squats down next to an old woman in a wheelchair.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0094r.jpg)
Cassie Beck, Arian Moayed, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein, and Sarah Steele
Photo by Joan Marcus![A family sits on a variety of chairs in a basement at two folding card tables pushed together. Red party cups are scattered over the table.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0206r.jpg)
Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Cassie Beck, Sarah Steele, and Arian Moayed
Photo by Joan Marcus![A young man holds two paper plates of leftover food in one hand. Behind him, a young woman leans against a basement pole with her arms crossed, holding a solo cup.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0127r.jpg)
Arian Moayed
Photo by Joan Marcus![An older man sits in a comfy chair and next to him holding his hand is a younger woman with blonde hair. Leaning against the wall next to them is an older woman holding a drink.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0330r.jpg)
Jayne Houdyshell, Cassie Beck, and Reed Birney
Photo by Joan Marcus![A family of six sits around folding card tables in mismatched chairs and holds hands before dinner. There are bowls of food and red solo cups on the table.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_450,q_auto:eco,w_800/v1/placeholders/Production-Photos/The-Humans/Humans0156r.jpg)
The Cast
Photo by Joan MarcusThe Humans Cast
- Aimee
- Cassie Beck
- Erik
- Reed Birney
- Deirdre
- Jayne Houdyshell
- Fiona "Momo" Blake
- Lauren Klein
- Richard
- Arian Moayed
- Brigid
- Sarah Steele
- u/s Brigid Blake
- Blair Baker
- u/s Erik Blake
- Michael Bryan French
- u/s Deirdre Blake
- Lizbeth Mackay
- u/s Fiona "Momo" Blake
- Susanne Marley
- u/s Richard
- Nick Mills
The Humans Creative
- Playwright
- Stephen Karam
- Director
- Joe Mantello
- Scenic Design
- David Zinn
- Costume Design
- Sarah Laux
- Lighting Design
- Justin Townsend
- Sound Design
- Fitz Patton
- Production Stage Manager
- William Joseph Barnes
Partial underwriting support for The Humans is provided by Judith and Douglas Krupp, The Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, and Lauren and Danny Stein.
Roundabout’s work with new and emerging playwrights and directors, as well as development of new work, is made possible by Katheryn Patterson and Tom Kempner.
We gratefully acknowledge the Roundabout Leaders for New Works: Alec Baldwin, Linda L. D'Onofrio, Peggy and Mark Ellis, Jodi Glucksman, Sylvia Golden, Judith and Douglas Krupp, K. Myers, Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, Lauren and Danny Stein, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Yolanda R. Turocy, Lori Uddenberg, and Xerox Foundation.
The Humans is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council.
![The empty house of the Laura Pels Theatre. Rows of grey chairs incline upwards towards the back of the house.](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundabout-theatre-company/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,h_340,q_auto:eco,w_440/e_grayscale/e_tint:100:391f55:0p:ea5297:100p/v1/placeholders/Pells_1000x386.jpg)
Presented at
Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
Laura Pels Theatre
111 West 46th Street, New York, NY
between 6th and 7th Avenues