Video: Victoria Clark Is Finding the Humanity in HUMAN THINGS

Two-time Tony Award winner Victoria Clark is back onstage, this time tackling a brand-new play in the world premiere of Joshua Owen’s Human Things, now playing Off-Broadway at the West End Theatre. For Clark, the opportunity to originate a role in a new work was an immediate draw.

“New work is my thing. I love doing new work,” she told BroadwayWorld’s Richard Ridge. “It was very intriguing and funny and sort of defies every genre you could think of. It’s its own genre. And as we’re bringing it to life, it’s even more exciting to explore because it has a lot of depth and a lot of surprises. And it’s very literary. There’s a lot of beautiful language and great ideas to explore.”

The play begins on a deserted island, where a young scientist and her husband find their already-strained relationship further complicated by the unexpected arrival of another couple. What follows, Clark teased, is difficult to categorize.

“I would like to call it—it’s definitely a comedy and it explores a lot of bigger themes,” she explained. “I had a friend who came last night and said it’s a cross between Beckett, Sartre, Sam Shepard and Gilligan’s Island.” Clark added that her friend was “laughing and then the next second he was sobbing and the next second he was gasping. So it is a real roller coaster.”

Beneath the humor, Human Things asks much bigger questions about how people connect and what they leave behind. For Clark, those ideas ultimately lead back to the importance of relationships.

“Even if the impact we make is very small, we have to turn towards each other and love and support one another,” she said. “As the world around us changes and becomes more and more untenable, we have to rely on our human relationships.”

Watch the full interview as Clark chats more about Human Things, her continued passion for tackling new work, her transition from musicals to plays, and much more.