T-R PHOTO BY NICK BAUR The cast and crew behind the production of “The Humans” being performed by MHS this weekend at the MHS Auditorium.

MHS drama students are set to take the stage this weekend to perform the one act play “The Humans” for two shows on March 31 and April 1 at 7 p.m. in the MHS Auditorium.

The Tony award winning play opens at the Blake family Thanksgiving dinner, where Brigid Blake and her boyfriend Richard, host Brigid’s parents, Erik and Deirdre, her sister Aimee, and her grandmother Fiona, or “Momo,” in her run-down Manhattan apartment.

“It’s a journey of all these different mixed feelings with the trauma that everybody has gone through.” said freshman Amber Brindle, who plays Brigid. “It’s kind of a family drama, so very much an overlapping of all that.”

The production puts a microscope on American working-class familial imperfections and provides an unsettling atmosphere that is ultimately, as the title suggests, human.

As sophomore Paige Haughey, who plays Richard, says, attendees should anticipate a series of eye-opening narrative surprises alongside the general tense environment of the play.

“Twists and turns are something to be expected,” Haughey said. “It’s never just a straight line. This isn’t just a Thanksgiving dinner. There’s a lot of stuff coming out. There’s a lot of excitement and getting to see what comes next.”

Senior Michael Gills, who plays Erik Blake, said that while the play focuses on heavier, more dramatic topics as the audience follows the family through a Thanksgiving dinner, the play is not bereft of uplifting and pleasant moments with the family.

“There are very heavy and serious points,” Gills said. “But then we do try to lighten up and have a couple of nice and joyous moments.”

The production of “The Humans” will also feature a two-tiered stage, in an effort to convey the two separate floors of Brigid and Richard’s apartment, in which the stage actors will traverse throughout the play

Gills indicated this multi-layered stage presented a new challenge for the local troupe.

“There’s one conversation over here and another down there. Now, there’s a conversation over there. [There’s] a lot of moving parts,” he said. “There’s definitely been some challenges… But overall it’s been a really joyful experience.”

For Brindle, she says while the script and set presented some logistical issues, it was the many different people in and behind the scenes working together to help bring the production to life.

“[We’re] able to count on everybody to help out,” she said. “It’s been really nice.”

Gills also added that he hopes to see a lively and sizable crowd for what will be something aof a swan song for the departing senior.

“I love to see all the people who want to come and see us, all the parents out there supporting their kids, all of that. Sometimes people show up because they want to see it, and that’s the greatest feeling,” he said.

General admission tickets will be $5 at the door.