Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, a new play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (who won a Tony Award in 2024 for Appropriate) comes to Broadway direct from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The epic family drama arrives with Two-time Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad at the helm.
The Broadway cast features Two-time Tony Award nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Harry Lennix, Jon Michael Hill, Glenn Davis, Alana Arenas, and Kara Young.
What's it all about? 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.
Before arriving on Broadway, Purpose was commissioned by and had its World Premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2024. The production received three 2024 Equity Jeff Awards including Outstanding Production of a Play.
This family, as Aziza realizes too late to escape, is off the rails. That’s exciting while the story remains in midair in Act 1, less so upon landing in a heap in Act 2. By then the dials set for bright comedy are stuck way too high for serious retribution; Solomon especially behaves so abominably that the playwright’s attempt to rehabilitate him cannot succeed.
Director Phylicia Rashad has assembled an A-plus cast and lays on thunderous sound effects for gravity. To quibble, Naz works overtime to narrate the goings-on — mileage varies on that device — and his final speech, though beautiful, comes a bit out of the blue.
2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Kara Young |
2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | Branden Jacobs-Jenkins |
2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | LaTanya Richardson Jackson |
2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Kara Young |
2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Phylicia Rashad |
2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | LaTanya Richardson Jackson |
2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Kara Young |
2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play | Jon Michael Hill |
2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Purpose |
2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Glenn Davis |
2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Jon Michael Hill |
2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Harry Lennix |
2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Kara Young |
2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | LaTanya Richardson Jackson |
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