The Humans

The Humans (2015) is a play by Stephen Karam. It debuted off Broadway in 2015 before its Broadway debut in 2016. It is a one-act play that features one unbroken scene in an apartment as the Blake family visits their daughter for Thanksgiving in New York City. At the heart of the work are the Blake family’s struggles to remain a part of the middle class in the years after the September 11th terrorist attacks as the family members care for an aging mother and are rattled by an affair. The play explores The Stress of Economic Instability, The Volatility of Familial Relationships, and The Persistence of Generational Fear.

The work is a tragicomic play and, as a piece of realist drama, draws similarities to the works of Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman and The Crucible) and Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie). It was a Pulitzer Prize nominee in the drama category in 2016. The play was also adapted for the screen in 2021, with Stephen Karam making his directorial debut. 

This guide refers to the 2016 paperback edition published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, mental illness, substance use, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Brigid Blake and her boyfriend, Richard Saad, are hosting Brigid’s family for Thanksgiving dinner in their New York City duplex apartment. The set of the apartment is two floors: The second floor has the door to the apartment, a large room, and the bathroom, and the first floor has a large room, the kitchen, and a door to the basement level.

Brigid’s father, Erik Blake, stands on the second floor with a wheelchair, waiting for his wife, Deirdre Blake, who is helping his mother, Momo Blake, in the bathroom. Momo is 79 and has advanced dementia; she almost constantly rambles, never making sense. Erik hears thuds come from upstairs. Brigid joins him with her sister, Aimee Blake. Erik asks about the thuds, and Brigid explains that their upstairs neighbor is an elderly Chinese woman and that they don’t want to disturb her.

Deirdre appears with Momo, and Aimee goes in the bathroom. Deirdre and Erik look around the room, and Erik makes comments about what Brigid needs to fix. Brigid asks him to enjoy the apartment instead of criticizing it. Brigid asks Deirdre how Aimee is doing, having just broken up with her long-term girlfriend, Carol, and Deirdre admits that Aimee is struggling. Deirdre also mentions that Erik is not sleeping well, though he will not tell her why. 

Richard comes up the stairs with champagne, and the family toasts and sings. They decide to go downstairs, taking Momo down the elevator. Erik and Richard wait for everyone else and talk about Erik’s career. He works at the local Catholic school and started working there to put Aimee and Brigid through school. Richard, having overheard that Erik struggles to sleep, sympathizes with him.

When everyone arrives downstairs, the Blakes catch up. Deirdre talks about her job, where she has worked for decades but is underpaid and underappreciated. Her bosses are two young men who make a lot more money because they went to college. Aimee, a lawyer, reveals that she is no longer on partner track, believing that it is because of her ulcerative colitis and the time she needed to miss to treat it.

Aimee begins getting stomach cramps and excuses herself to the bathroom upstairs while Deirdre gives two gifts to Brigid. The first is a peppermint pig, for the annual Blake tradition of sharing their thanks. The second is a small statue of the Virgin Mary. Deirdre and Erik take pride in their Catholic faith, though the sisters do not. Deirdre asks that she at least keep it in a drawer.

Deirdre asks Richard to get an Ensure shake for Momo while Brigid goes to check on Aimee. Erik goes upstairs to check his phone since the window on the second floor is the only place where there’s cell service; he passes Brigid on her way down. Momo spills her shake, and Richard, Deirdre, and Brigid rush to clean it up. Meanwhile, Aimee walks out of the bathroom and does not notice Erik. She makes a phone call to Carol, and though she sounds hopeful, she is quickly disappointed.

Erik comforts Aimee, who begins crying; he tells her that she will find someone else. Aimee is not so confident and returns to the bathroom. Erik returns downstairs as Deirdre and Richard settle Momo on the couch. Deirdre talks about how Momo would have horrible episodes before her new medication, saying that they remind her of ads she’s seen for a zombie show on television. The group talks about different monsters, and the conversation leads back to Erik’s dreams. Erik finally admits to having a recurring dream in which he sees a woman with no face; her eyes, mouth, nose, and ears are all covered by skin. The thuds from upstairs return, and Deirdre jokes that it is Erik’s dream woman haunting them. Erik complains about the noise.

Brigid goes upstairs to show how the sound travels; she and Aimee start jumping up and down. They then say that their parents are stretching themselves too thin with their care for Momo. Neither sister wants to talk about their jobs. Aimee reveals that she will need surgery to remove her intestine and will need a colostomy bag. She is insecure about how this will impact her love life, but Brigid comforts her. Above them, the lightbulb burns out, plunging them into darkness.

Deirdre joins them upstairs to help them find an LED lantern from a care package that she and Erik bought. Alone at the table, Richard tells Erik that he does not blame him for worrying about Brigid in the city after what he and Aimee experienced. Aimee had an interview on the 37th floor of the World Trade Center on the day of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Erik was waiting in a Dunkin Donuts nearby when the attacks happened. With no cell phone, it took him hours to find Aimee.

At dinner, the conversation turns toward Richard. Brigid reveals that he will gain access to a trust fund when he turns 40. Richard’s grandmother set it up this way to keep him from being spoiled. Deirdre and Erik talk about how wealth can be more detrimental than poverty, but Richard pushes back, saying that poverty can be just as bad.

The tension rises as Erik begins questioning Brigid’s work. She explains that she works in a bar but cannot jumpstart her career. Richard defends her, agreeing that she works hard. She reads her family a letter from an old professor that lauds her work ethic but says that she has little talent in music. Erik does not sympathize, saying that she needs to work harder or find a new path.

The lightbulb above the stairs goes out, and Deirdre jokes that it is the faceless woman again. Deirdre goes to the bathroom, and Aimee and Brigid go to the kitchen for Brigid to cool off from Erik’s criticisms. Meanwhile, Erik tells Richard that there is more to his dream. The faceless woman wants him to go through a tunnel, but he never does. Richard suggests that if he does, it might be transformative.

The family then smashes the peppermint pig, and after each hit, they say what they are thankful for. The Blakes are all thankful to have each other. In an effort to include Momo, Deirdre reads Momo’s final email to Brigid and Aimee, which she wrote before her dementia worsened. It encourages them to live their lives to the fullest. Afterward, Aimee insists that she order a car for them, as Erik is too drunk to drive.

When dessert comes out, Deirdre takes Momo to the bathroom, and Erik asks Richard to help her. He keeps Brigid and Aimee downstairs and tells them that he and Deirdre are likely moving soon. He had an affair with a coworker and was fired from the school for violating their morality clause. He will not receive his pension and now works in a Walmart. He and Deirdre are working through it, but the cost of Momo’s care has sapped their savings. The sisters are shocked and angry. Brigid questions how well Erik and Deirdre are, considering that Erik doesn’t sleep and Deirdre eats her feelings.

Deirdre overhears this and is hurt. Brigid rushes to apologize, but Deirdre won’t let her. When more thuds come from upstairs, Brigid storms out to confront the neighbor, and Richard follows her. Aimee brings Deirdre downstairs, and Erik comforts Momo. Afterward, Deirdre returns upstairs and brushes aside Erik’s apology, taking Momo to the bathroom. Aimee tells Erik that she is going for a walk because she needs to think. He says that he worries about losing his family and often thinks about the day of the attacks and the fear he felt when he saw a fireman carrying a woman wearing the same suit as Aimee. She was covered in ash and looked as though she had no face. He realizes what he sees in his dreams.

Erik goes downstairs to collect their things, and Aimee soon returns to announce that the car is there. Deirdre and Momo appear, but before she leaves the apartment, Deirdre puts the small statue of the Virgin Mary on the windowsill. Downstairs, the lights go out for good, and Erik must prop open the basement door for light. He begins to have a panic attack but soon collects himself. Brigid calls from upstairs, saying that she will go with them to Penn Station, see Aimee off, and then take the subway back. Erik looks around the apartment, the light from the basement door giving it a tunnel-like appearance. He walks through the door.