Shakespeare, ‘The Humans’ at the Alley
Upcoming season signals both stability and a push toward inclusivity, leader says
“The Humans,” Stephen Karam’s unflinching look at the deterioration of the white middle class, headlines the upcoming season at the Alley Theatre.
Both an homage and a challenge to the American kitchen-sink drama, “The Humans” initially presents itself as a naturalist look at a family gathering in a dinky yet presentable New York Chinatown apartment but gradually breaks apart layer by layer. It won a Tony Award for best play in 2016 and was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The upcoming Alley season was assembled by interim artistic director James Black, who said the season signals stability after a bumpy time for the organization but also pushes toward a vision of inclusivity and diversity.
“I wanted the ticket buyer to feel that things were going to be OK. I wasn’t interested in putting my own aesthetic spin on the season,” Black said. “But it would be great to start introducing new elements, an emphasis on diversity in casting. … It’s not so much a response to what has happened locally but as an acknowledgment of what’s going on culturally nationwide.”
Also featured are Dominique Morisseau’s wrenching human drama “Skeleton Crew,” which features working-class people of color struggling with the shifting economic and cultural tides of America, and Robert Askins’ “The Carpenter,” a farce that pokes fun at family, mistaken identity and, yes, Dallas.