Previews: Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ APPROPRIATE Headlines the 11th Annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis has announced their mainstage production for their 11th annual festival. The St. Louis Premiere of Brandon Jacobs-Jenkin’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play Appropriate will headline the festival dubbed as “The Tennessee Effect.”

“We are expanding our programming to include contemporary voices that have been shaped by Tennessee Williams legacy,” says festival executive director Carrie Houk. She continued, “This revolution reflects our growing and increasingly diverse audience and strengthens our commitment to artistic relevance and inclusion.”

Appropriate was the 2024 Tony winner for Best Revival of a Play. The celebrated Broadway run, which was extended twice, starred Sarah Paulson. Nominated for eight Tony awards, Appropriate won three. In addition to Best Revival, Paulson was named Best Actress in a Play, and Jane Cox won for her lighting design. The Muny’s Mike Isaacson won his ninth Tony award for his work as producer of Appropriate.

Appropriate explores fractured family relationships, inheritance, memory, and the uneasy presence of the past. Including this play in the season of “The Tennessee Effect” brings Williams’s thematic concerns into the twenty-first century, demonstrating that his influence remains urgent and alive. Like many of Williams’ works, it examines the heirs of a white Southern family confronting a destabilizing legacy. The play wrestles with race and generational responsibility, inviting audiences to consider how history shapes identity in contemporary America.

Playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins is widely considered among the most influential playwrights of his generation. Jacobs-Jenkins has acknowledged the profound impact that Williams has had on his writing. Many consider him to be a theatrical heir to Tennessee Williams, particularly in his focus on Southern settings and family drama.

The Festival production will be directed by Benny Sato Ambush. His more than four-decade career has included a focus on directing, producing, and institutional leadership. Ambush is an acting and directing educator and a former artistic director of four theaters. The acclaimed director is a member of College of Fellows of the American Theatre.