THE

HUMANS
BY
STEPHEN KARAM

DRAMATISTS
PLAY SERVICE
INC.
 THE HUMANS
Copyright © 2016, Stephen Karam

All Rights Reserved

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2
THE HUMANS had its world premiere at American Theater
Company (PJ Paparelli, Artistic Director), Chicago, Illinois, in
November 2014. It was directed by PJ Paparelli, the set design was by
Dave Ferguson, the costume design was by Brittany Dee Bodley, the
lighting design was by Brian Hoehne, the sound design was by Patrick
Bely, and the stage manager was Amanda Davis. The cast was as follows:

ERIK BLAKE ...................................................... Keith Kupferer

DEIRDRE BLAKE ............................................ Hanna Dworkin
AIMEE BLAKE ........................................................ Sadieh Rifai
BRIGID BLAKE ............................................... Kelly O’Sullivan
FIONA “MOMO” BLAKE ....................................... Jean Moran
RICHARD SAAD .................................................... Lance Baker

THE HUMANS was commissioned and originally produced Off-

Broadway by Roundabout Theatre Company, at the Laura Pels
Theatre, opening on October 25, 2015. It was directed by Joe
Mantello, the scenic design was by David Zinn, the costume design
was by Sarah Laux, the lighting design was by Justin Townsend, the
sound design was by Fitz Patton, the production stage manager was
William Joseph Barnes, and the stage manager was Devin Day. The
cast was as follows:

ERIK BLAKE ........................................................... Reed Birney

DEIRDRE BLAKE .......................................... Jayne Houdyshell
AIMEE BLAKE ......................................................... Cassie Beck
BRIGID BLAKE ...................................................... Sarah Steele
FIONA “MOMO” BLAKE .................................... Lauren Klein
RICHARD SAAD ................................................. Arian Moayed

The Roundabout production of THE HUMANS transferred to the

Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway, with the same cast and creative
team, on January 23, 2016. The Broadway production was produced
by Scott Rudin, Barry Diller, Roundabout Theatre Company, Fox
Theatricals, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Roy Furman,
Daryl Roth, Jon B. Platt, Eli Bush, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman,
Amanda Lipitz, Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, Lauren Stein
and the Shubert Organization, and Joey Parnes (Sue Wagner and
John Johnson, executive producers).

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 DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ERIK BLAKE, 60
DEIRDRE BLAKE, 61, Erik’s wife
AIMEE BLAKE, 34, their daughter
BRIGID BLAKE, 26, their daughter
FIONA “MOMO” BLAKE, 79, Erik’s mother
RICHARD SAAD, 38, Brigid’s boyfriend

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 NOTES

1.) A slash ( / ) means the character with the next line of dialogue
begins their speech.

2.) Dialogue in brackets [ ] is expressed non-verbally.

3.) The Humans takes place in one real-time scene—on a two-level

set—with no blackouts. Life continues in all spaces at all times.

4.) The Humans explores the fears of a middle class family—not

necessarily a white middle class family. Though the family’s heritage
draws from my own background (I am half Irish-American, half
Lebanese-American), the primary obsession of the play isn’t unpacking
of the Irish-American experience; as such, I hope families of all
ethnicities will be gathered around the table in future productions.
The casting of actors of color shouldn’t be viewed as a radical concept,
nor one that requires the author’s permission.

—SK

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There are six basic fears, with some combination of which every
human suffers at one time or another…
The fear of POVERTY
The fear of CRITICISM
The fear of ILL HEALTH
The fear of LOSS OF LOVE OF SOMEONE
The fear of OLD AGE
The fear of DEATH

—Napoleon Hill,
Think and Grow Rich

The subject of the “uncanny”… belongs to all that is terrible—

to all that arouses dread and creeping horror… The German
word [for “uncanny”], unheimlich, is obviously the opposite of
heimlich, meaning “familiar,” “native,” “belonging to the
home”; and we are tempted to conclude that what is “uncanny”
is frightening precisely because it is not known and familiar…
[But] among its different shades of meaning the word heimlich
exhibits one which is identical with its opposite, unheimlich…
on the one hand, it means that which is familiar and congenial,
and on the other, that which is concealed and kept out of sight.

—Sigmund Freud,
“The Uncanny”
 THE HUMANS
A turn-of-the-century ground floor/basement duplex tenement
apartment in New York City’s Chinatown. It’s just big enough
to not feel small. It’s just small enough to not feel big.
The two floors are connected via a spiral staircase. Each floor
has its own entrance.
The apartment’s pre-war features have been coated in layers of
faded off-white paint, rendering the space curiously monotone. The
rooms are worn, the floors are warped, but clean and well kept.
The layout doesn’t adhere to any sensible scheme—the result of a
mid-century renovation in which two autonomous apartments
were combined.
Upstairs: two rooms divided by an open entryway. The room
with the staircase also has the apartment’s lone, large, deep-set
window with bars. The window gets no direct sunlight. An
urban recliner is the only piece of furniture upstairs. The other
room has a door that leads to the duplex’s sole bathroom.
Downstairs: two windowless rooms divided by an even larger
open entryway—with a different floorplan than upstairs. A
small kitchen alley is wedged awkwardly behind the spiral
staircase. The other room is dominated by a modest folding
table. The table is set with six paper plates and napkins with
turkeys on them. Plastic silverware. Scattered moving boxes.
Not much else.
The apartment is a touch ghostly, but not in a forced manner;
empty pre-war basement apartments are effortlessly uncanny.
At lights: Erik is upstairs, alone, some plastic bags in his hands.
Beside him is an empty wheelchair. He takes in the space. The
main door is open. Beat.

9
 A sickening THUD sounds from above the ceiling. Erik looks up.
ERIK. [What the hell was that?]
He recovers.
Gradually his attention shifts away from the noise; he continues
to explore the space when—
Another sickening THUD sounds from above, startling him.
He looks up.
[God, what the hell is that?]
A toilet flush.
Aimee and Brigid enter through the main door carrying a few
plastic bags.
AIMEE. This is the last of the goodies…

BRIGID. (To Erik.) I told you guys not to bring anything.

Deirdre and Momo exit the bathroom; Momo is shaky on her
feet. Erik helps her into her wheelchair.
DEIRDRE. Mission accomplished…

BRIGID. It’s pretty big, right?

AIMEE. ERIK.
Definitely bigger than I gotcha Mom,
your last place. there you go…

ERIK. Is there some kinda construction going on upstairs?

BRIGID. Oh, no that’s our neighbor, we think she drops stuff? Or

stomps around?—we don’t know…
Downstairs: Richard emerges from the kitchen alley.
RICHARD. (Calling up.) Everyone okay up there?

BRIGID. We’re fine, babe, just keep an eye on the oven, we’ll be
down in a minute.

RICHARD. You got it.

10
ERIK. Have you complained to her about the noise?

BRIGID. No, Dad, she’s a seventy-year-old Chinese woman, / I’m

not gonna—

DEIRDRE. Well, Brigid, I’m sixty-one—older people can still

process information, we’re / still able to—

BRIGID. I’m saying she means well, she’s older so I don’t wanna
disturb her if I don’t have to /… Hey, here, I’ll take your coats…

MOMO. (Mumbled.) You can never come back… you can never come
back /… you can never come back… cannevery you come back…

DEIRDRE. Alright… you’re alright, Mom…

Momo’s mumbling is not directed to anyone—her primary focus
is down, towards the floor, lost; she is passive and disconnected.
BRIGID. What’s she saying?

DEIRDRE. MOMO.
She’s—[who the hell knows] … fernall heres ullerin…
—even when she is sayin’ werstrus um black… sezz
real stuff… what’s been comin’ it bigger… fernal down
out is still all… [muddled] / black… sornit all…

ERIK. Mom, hey Mom, this is Brigid’s new apartment…

BRIGID. How are you, Momo?

DEIRDRE. We’re gonna have Thanksgiving at your granddaughter’s

new place, / that sound good?

MOMO. (Mumbled.) … you can never come back… you can never
come back…

BRIGID. Momo, you can absolutely come back, any time you want.
Deirdre moves into the room with the recliner.
ERIK. This is a decent layout, Bridge… / good space…

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DEIRDRE. Really nice…

BRIGID. It’s good, right?—I can set up my music workspace

downstairs so I won’t drive Rich crazy.

DEIRDRE. This is a fancy chair… Erik, check out this fancy chair…

ERIK. I thought all your furniture was on the moving truck.

BRIGID. It is—Richard’s parents gave us that—a couch, too…

we’re not sure if the living area’ll be up here or—this might become
the bedroom…

AIMEE. (Noticing the staircase.) I can’t believe you have a downstairs…

ERIK. Why would they give something this nice away?

BRIGID. MOMO. (Softly mumbled.)

Because they got a new one, Dad. … fernall all sertrus inner…

DEIRDRE. (Re: the recliner.) You might want something even bigger
up here…

BRIGID. This isn’t Scranton, I don’t need an oversized recliner in

every room.

MOMO. (Mumbled.) … you can never come back… you can never
come back…
Erik is drawn to the window, studies the surroundings.
BRIGID. Momo…?

DEIRDRE. It’s her latest phrase-of-the-day… The doctor says it’s

normal, the repeating…

BRIGID. And… how’s she been?

Eriks stops staring out the window.
Momo’s face remains blank and focused on the floor.
ERIK. Uh… she’s still got her good days, you know?… Yesterday

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she was pretty with it for most of the morning, but now she’s [all
over the place]… I dunno where she goes…

DEIRDRE. I tried to do her hair, I want her to look good, / you

know?

AIMEE. BRIGID.
She does… Treat yourself to a spa day…
/ the both of you should go—

DEIRDRE. No, no way, do you know how much that costs?

BRIGID. Yeah, well you’ll burn out if you’re / not careful—

DEIRDRE. Hey, hey don’t worry about us—having her at home

with us is, until it becomes too much, it’s a blessing, you know…
right Erik?… Erik…
Erik has been staring out the window—something outside
caught his attention.
AIMEE. Dad— / come back to earth…

ERIK. Sorry, sorry… long drive.

BRIGID. Are you okay?

ERIK. Yeah, once I get some caffeine in me, I’ll be good…

AIMEE. (Trying to find the light switch in the bathroom.) Hey is the
light switch…?

BRIGID. No, it’s on the outside…

Another THUD sounds above the ceiling. Erik is the only one
who looks up.
ERIK. You want me to call the super about the noise?—

BRIGID. No, no this is New York, people are loud, why are you
so—

13
 THE HUMANS
by Stephen Karam
Wininer of the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play
2M, 4W

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
and the heart and horrors of the Blake clan are exposed.

“Drawn in subtle but indelible strokes, Mr. Karam’s play might almost qualify as deep-
delving reportage, so clearly does it illuminate the current, tremor-ridden landscape of
contemporary America. … The Humans is a major discovery, a play as empathetic as
it is clear-minded, as entertaining as it is honest. For all the darkness at its core… a bright
light shines forth from it, the blazing luminescence of collective artistic achievement.”
—The New York Times

“THE HUMANS explores, across an enthralling spectrum of ups and downs, what
being a family is all about.” —The Washington Post

“Great plays are usually great in one of two ways. Either they are culminating examples
of existing ideas, or groundbreaking examples of new things entirely… The Humans,
it turns out, is not just one of those culminating genre pieces but also, at the same time,
one of those ‘new things entirely.’ Into the familiar dinner-table-drama genre the play-
wright has mixed the unexpected element of terror—or, rather, he has created a new
element by bombarding one with the other. I should add that, for all this, the play is
rackingly funny even as it pummels the heart and scares the bejesus out of you.”
—New York Magazine

“[An] inestimably kind, rich and beautiful play… truly remarkable and exceptionally
moving… Few writers of his generation have achieved anything quite like The Humans,
a play about the horrors of ordinary life and the love we need to counter them.”
—Chicago Tribune

Also by Stephen Karam

SONS OF THE PROPHET
SPEECH & DEBATE

DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC.

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