Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' PURPOSE Plays Final Broadway Performance
Purpose won the Tony Award for Best Play and the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
By: Sidney Paterra Aug. 31, 2025
Jasper family out! Today, August 31, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ PURPOSE plays its final Broadway performance at the Hayes Theatre, following 22 previews and 192 regular performances.The venue will soon be home to Marjorie Prime, which is set to begin performances on November 20, 2025.
For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black political power and familial duty. Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, PURPOSE is an epic family drama from one of the country’s most celebrated voices.
In addition to winning Best Play and Best Performance By an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play (Kara Young), Purpose was nominated for four additional Tony Awards: Best Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (LaTanya Richardson Jackson), Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Harry Lennix, Jon Michael Hill), Best Performance By an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Glenn Davis).The ensemble also features Steppenwolf Ensemble member and 2025 Theater World Award recipient Alana Arenas. Alana Arenas, Glenn Davis, Jon Michael Hill, and Harry Lennix all appeared in the play’s acclaimed world premiere at Steppenwolf in March 2024.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson played her final performance on July 13. Since then, The role of 'Claudine Jasper' has been played by Brenda Pressley.
