For a play about a family struggling through loss, Stephen Karam’s “The Humans” is a winner. Riding on its Tony Award victories, including one for Best Play, the drama is now a virtual sell-out at the Helen Hayes, earning $563,565 last week on an average ticket price of $123.45.This is nothing short of miraculous for a play by a relatively unknown playwright that arrived on Broadway with a stack of strong notices but no box-office stars, per se. Veteran actors Reed Birney and Jayne Houdyshell came away with well-deserved Tony Awards as the parents of the Blake family, who gather for Thanksgiving dinner amid domestic turmoil.That “The Humans” would achieve hit status was far from assured when producer Scott Rudin told Karam and director Joe Mantello he would transfer the play to Broadway. He did so after seeing a preview during its world premiere run at The Laura Pels, the Roundabout’s off-Broadway theater, where the audience response was respectful but not enthusiastic. The critics had yet to endorse the show. But Mantello says that the producer was indifferent to the reviewers’ response. “He trusts his taste,” he adds of Rudin. “He has the courage of his convictions.”In fact, the same could be said of Mantello, one of Broadway’s most eclectic and in-demand directors (“Wicked” “Blackbird”). The only person in the creative trio who doubted himself was Karam, who, at 36, has had “The Humans” and “The Sons of the Prophet” short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize. “I thought I was being punked,” he says with a laugh. Prior to the Tony Awards, ARTINFO sat down with Karam and Mantello to talk of their journey to unexpected Broadway success.Joe, did you immediately respond to the play?Mantello: I was completely engrossed with it and sat down and read it in one sitting. I think I called Stephen within four hours.Karam: I thought it would be months and months before I heard from him. I’ve never felt so understood as I did in the morning that Joe responded. He didn’t just read the play but he got it. There’s no better starting place for a writer and director.Stephen, to what extent is “The Humans,” like “Sons of the Prophet,” about faith?Karem: It isn’t so specifically about that. But I am interested in the way that people cope with their anxieties and their fears, which is something I was thinking about a lot about when I started writing. The parents have this really stalwart, deeply important religious faith, which they have not necessarily been able to pass onto to their daughters. The daughters in their own way are looking for some stability. The older is looking to her longtime girlfriend, the younger daughter is clearly doing hot yoga and meditation and trying to quell her own fears and anxieties about where she is in life — and eating a lot of super foods.How did you manage to cultivate such an ensemble spirit among the cast?Mantello: Some of it is just the luck of the draw. The chemistry and the intimacy they have on that stage they also have off stage. They genuinely enjoy spending time with each other as actors. We got that for free. But the other thing is that we all sort of made a pact early on that we were going to do very little “acting” and not help the audience out in any way — to be rigorous about doing just enough and no more.How do you strike that balance?Mantello: I think that the play sets up that challenge for you. And we wanted to rise to the challenge. It’s a very naturalistic play on many, many levels. There’s that tendency, particularly when you get to Broadway, you want to assist the audience just a bit. We really tried to let he play speak for itself.When you write, how cognizant are you of the audience?Karem: I feel selfishly that you’re more writing for yourself. And you’re writing a play that only you would want to see. In my limited experience, that’s a great way of ultimately reaching the greatest number of people. When I’m writing, I’m trying to go inward, go deep down into the basement to the things that I’m actually afraid to talk about, the things I’m scared to put on stage. Part of the fear is that no one will care about these things that mean so much to me.Once in front of an audience, what do they teach you?Mantello: Audiences are essential and vital. But they’re not coming to New York City to see “The Humans.” They come in with a different expectation and that gives us a bigger hurdle. And that’s coupled with the fact that these buildings are really the best real estate to see these plays. They do something magical to the play, especially a new one. And when we got to Broadway, the actors had to struggle with the fact that they got such big laughs. And I had to tell them, “No, no, it’s okay to get a big laugh.”A provocative notion in the play, espoused by the daughter’s boyfriend, is that monsters in the comic book realm should fear us, the human species, as we’re always trying to kill them. Should they fear us?Karam: Absolutely. But I think they should also be in awe of us. The play puts us in that perspective. At times you’re terrified how fragile we are, and how mean we can be to each other, and how damaged we can be. But at the same time, how exhilarating a group of people can love each other that deeply and come together and support each other and make each other laugh. And be stupid and silly together. I think it’s kind of magic. I think it all goes into the same stew.
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