The Humans

The Humans by Stephen Karam is a work of dramatic realism. The play focuses on a family over the course of a Thanksgiving dinner, in one unbroken, continuous scene on a two-floor set, giving the audience a view as if they are looking into a dollhouse. The Humans seeks to offer its audience a view into the lives of everyday people, reflecting the tenets of the realism movement. 

Instead of relying on fantastical elements or unusual, high-stakes situations, the play instead seeks to depict mundane family routines and pressures. Much of the action of the play happens through the actors, with no special effects to contribute to the plot. There are no especially dramatic occurrences, as every problem the family faces is something relatively commonplace: career struggles, marital tensions, and disagreements and misunderstandings within the family unit. Throughout the play, characters also engage in everyday conversation, with no long or dramatic monologues. Much of their language is also colloquial in nature, filled with hesitations, interruptions, and cross-talking. Such conversational features also contribute to the play’s realism, as the characters do not have an elevated or especially elegant register. 

The Humans keeps the focus on the Blakes, never leaving the apartment for an alternative