10/31 - 11/10 - PEPPERMINT CREEK THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES OPENING OF “The Humans”
Peppermint Creek Theatre produces the Midwest premiere of the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play
Lansing, MI – Peppermint Creek Theatre Company is proud to announce the two-week run of the hilarious and spooky, The Humans, by Stephen Karam, which won the 2016 Tony award for Best Play.
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.
New York Magazine wrote, “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 playwright 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.”
Peppermint Creek Guest Director, Emily Clark, speaks about what drew her to this new play, “I saw The Humans in New York with friends and loved it immediately. I was extremely moved by the show. We couldn’t stop talking about it. We all questioned certain aspects of the show; how sad it was, how funny it was, how true to life it was. So this is very much the type of show audiences will relate to. It contains humor and pathos, a delightful combination when creating true life situations. While the story is a simple one; a family celebrating Thanksgiving at their daughter’s new apartment in Chinatown, NY, the nuances and complications surrounding this dinner will leave this family never feeling the same again”.
Clark also reflects on how the play so immeduiately addresses Peppermint Creek’s mission statement, “The uniqueness of the show comes from seeing the outcome of ordinary people living through extraordinary times, and how it affects their lives, both physically and mentally. As we see in The Humans, people react differently to trauma, and often it takes time before we see the results of the disasters in their lives. The Humans opened in 2014. Within this family play celebrating Thanksgiving, we see that this family has lived through the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the Depression, 9/11 (First Hand), and Superstorm Sandy. Their daughter (who was caught in 9/11) has ulcerative colitis which will become cancer if not removed. They are celebrating Thanksgiving in the younger daughter’s new apartment in Chinatown, which flooded during Sandy. Momo (Grandma) suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s. Dad lost his job and pension after having an affair. The parents are 5 years from Medicare and don’t have insurance. This show could not be timelier!”
The production will take place at Peppermint Creek’s NEW performance venue at Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Ave, Lansing MI 48933. The show will run Thursday, October 31 - Sunday, November 3, and Thursday, November 7 – Sunday, November 10, 2019. Show times are (week one) Thursday and Friday at 8pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm; (week two) Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets can be ordered online at www.peppermintcreek.org, and are $15 general admission, and $10 for students/seniors 65+/military.
This production is generously underwritten by Foster Swift Collins and Smith Law Firm, Sam & Mary Austin, Clarence Weiss and Rose & Jim Zacks.
To purchase tickets, visit http://www.peppermintcreek.org. Follow “PCTC” on Facebook. Press photos are available on request.
RSS Feed
