Photo by Joan Marcus

After playing to sold-out houses at the Helen Hayes Theatre and picking up a total of four Tony Awards (including Best Play), Stephen Karam's comic-drama has secured a new and larger home and will move to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and begin performances there from 9th August.

So often the elite tier of plays on Broadway come from the other side of the Atlantic and we certainly always keep an eye on London for future imports. But this season, a surprise hit was born at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre and swiftly and deservedly moved to the Helen Hayes.

So what is it about Mr Karam's modern masterpiece that has audiences and critics alike so enthralled? I will personally never forget my trip to see the show because at one particular moment, I was so moved by the writing and what was being expressed on stage that I suddenly found myself in floods of tears. The ensemble of characters in this family are going through so many individual or collective struggles that there is bound to be at least one (or many) situation the audience member identifies in their own life. Whether it's a recent end of a relationship, moving into a new home, dementia, adultery, losing your job or mental illness, Stephen Karam's play is jammed full of the hardships of life. But his talent as a writer renders all these components completely accessible and the play never feels overstuffed or depressing. There is so much humour sprinkled over the family members' interactions and their dialogue is so natural, you feel they could almost be your neighbours.

Jayne Houdyshell and Reed Birney may have earned their Tony Awards for their respective performances as Deirdre and Erik, but the beauty of this piece is that there are no stars. This is truly a close, hardworking ensemble group of actors, who have developed the perfect onstage chemistry. Each family member has his or her value in the play. Couple this with a Tony-winning set design by David Zinn which depicts a lower Manhattan apartment, desperate for a lick of paint and some TLC, and you having a winning formula. I suspect many of the theatregoers, who have seen The Humans thus far, are all too familiar with the look and feel of this domestic setting.

The generic title suits the normality of the play's premise, but I can assure you that by the end of the night, you'll feel like you've just witnessed anything but normal.

Click here for tickets to The Humans for performances through to 24 July 2016 at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre and from 9 August 2016 at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.

- by Tom Millward