Tony Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins understands the intricacies of family. In his award-winning “Appropriate,” starring Sarah Paulson, he wrote about siblings ravaged by the rage of grief. In his newest Broadway play, “Purpose,” directed by Tony Award-winning Phylicia Rashad, Jacobs-Jenkins showcases a very different family whose long-held secrets and dirty laundry are put on full display during what is meant to be a celebratory weekend. A breathtaking production that beautifully blends drama and comedy, it is a searing tale that unveils the disconnect between how people see themselves and who they truly are.
“Purpose” opens in the middle of the Jasper family’s living room in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Chicago. The warm-toned setting almost looks palatial as snow falls heavily outside. A glittering chandelier hangs from the ceiling. African art is displayed on every surface; there is a grand staircase; portraits of prominent Black figures, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Barack Obama and Jasper patriarch Pastor Solomon Jasper (Harry Lennix) hang on the walls.
Nazareth “Naz” Jasper (Jon Michel Hill), the youngest son, speaks directly to the audience. He recalls the events leading up to this fateful weekend that led him to his childhood home, with his good friend Aziza (Kara Young) unexpectedly in tow. Naz is happy to see his older brother, Junior (Glenn Davis), a disgraced former State Senator, recently released after serving a two-year prison sentence for embezzling funds. His mother, Claudine (an astounding LaTanya Richardson Jackson), has forgone a massive birthday party to celebrate Junior’s homecoming at a quaint dinner. However, Naz doesn’t expect Aziza to be pulled face-first into his family drama, altering their friendship and the Jaspers’ lives forever.
When Aziza rings the doorbell attempting to return the phone charger Naz has left in her car, it’s clear he hasn’t been forthright regarding his lineage. She’s astonished that her friend is literally Black history, one of “those Jaspers.” From here, viewers learn about Solomon’s work throughout the Civil Rights Movement, his career as an orator and how deeply disappointed he is in his two sons. Junior carries his name and the newfound title of felon. Meanwhile, Naz, a nature photographer, keeps himself at a distance after fleeing divinity school and the life his parents had so carefully crafted for him.
While Junior is thrilled to be out of prison, his wife, Morgan (Alana Arenas), set to begin her year-long prison sentence soon, is less than thrilled to be in Chicago. She’s left the couple’s twin boys back on the East Coast and has sequestered herself in a guest bedroom, refusing to interact with her in-laws. Delighted to meet Naz’s lady friend, Claudine, who rules the home with a hospitable sort of domination and her rarely-used law degree, insists Aziza stay overnight. But what occurs when everyone — including Morgan — is dragged to the table for dinner is a volatile meal where long-held secrets are revealed, recent confidences are made public and violence ensues.
Family dynamics are always intricate and hyperspecific. Solomon’s surliness and his newfound hobby as a beekeeper grates against Claudine and Junior’s faux cheer, Morgan’s hatred and Naz’s penchant for avoidance. Aziza and the audience watch in horror as these tense relationships come undone. No longer relegated to pillars in history books, Aziza quickly learns just how human the Jaspers are. Like his previous plays, Jacobs-Jenkins unveils the specificities of being linked by blood. But here, the ribbon of Black American history, upward mobility, appearance and the emphasis on legacy are especially prominent.
With a nearly three-hour runtime, “Purpose” heavily relies on wordy monologues to give this story much-needed history and texture. However, much of the dialogue is humorous, punchy and sharp, breaking up some of the heavier and shocking scenes and allowing the audience to lean in as all of the Jaspers’ dirty laundry is laid bare. The comedic beats are a reminder that historically, Black people have sought refuge in laughter and jubilation even amid some of the most unimaginable moments in our history.
A mirror to his previous work, “Appropriate,” which showcased the inner thoughts of well-meaning white people who still have deep-seated bitterness toward Black people and other minorities, “Purpose” unpacks why respectability politics and unyielding ambition in the Black community are so harmful. The production showcases the fractures that come to the surface when children are held to unreasonable standards and levels of excellence that no human being can uphold.
A whirlwind of a play, the cast delivers incredible performances and seems at ease in this world cultivated by Jacobs-Jenkins and structured by Rashad. The play acknowledges how much our families and our places within them shape, define and break us. “Purpose” is a brilliant and profound narrative about legacies, ambition, mental illness and who you may become if you were never allowed to know yourself.
