Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is visibly dismayed.
This isnt even, like, giving theater!
he cries, flipping on the mirror lights.
AMERICAN FAMILYThe cast of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’sPurpose,which opens on March 17 at New York’s Helen Hayes Theater. From left: Glenn Davis (in a Loro Piana sweater), Harry Lennix (in a Brooks Brothers vest), Kara Young (in Self-Portrait), Alana Arenas (in Banana Republic), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (in a Lafayette 148 dress, Adina Reyter bracelet), and Jon Michael Hill (in an Officine Générale jacket). Sittings Editor: Edward Bowleg III.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 40, has become one of the most lauded American playwrights of his generation.
He wears a Thom Browne jacket and Todd Snyder shirt.
That was truly all I had at the beginning, he says.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 40, has become one of the most lauded American playwrights of his generation. He wears a Thom Browne jacket and Todd Snyder shirt.
Significant themes all, butPurpose,like the rest of Jacobs-Jenkinss work, has a lot of humor.
I was really intoBuffy the Vampire Slayer.)
That takes a lot of talent.
Jackson, who has not acted on Broadway since 2019—she directed John David Washington and her husband, Samuel L. Jackson, in an acclaimed 2022 revival ofThe Piano Lessonin the interim—says that Jacobs-Jenkins “creates people that reachthroughyou, and you reach through them. That takes a lot of talent.” She wears a Lafayette 148 dress and Jennifer Fisher earrings. Lennix wears a Brooks Brothers vest and shirt.
She wears a Lafayette 148 dress and Jennifer Fisher earrings.
Lennix wears a Brooks Brothers vest and shirt.
Her hallowed resume spoke for itself: She was August Wilsons last muse, Jacobs-Jenkins says.
Davis wears a Loro Piana sweater. Arenas wears a Banana Republic shirt, Ulla Johnson earrings, and a Jennifer Meyer necklace.
Jacobs-Jenkins and Rashad had also crossed paths before.
Thats all she said to me.
I called my mom and I was like, Phylicia Rashad just called me insane!
Hill wears an Officine Générale jacket and Rag & Bone shirt. Young wears a Self-Portrait top and Pandora earrings and bracelet.
I think my career is going to be okay.
When we speak by phone the following week, I ask Rashad to verify that account.
It was insane because, whose mind works like this?
she replies, her voice warm, low, familiar.
What she encountered at Soho Rep was a piece full of surprises and big leaps, but truthful ones.
I said, This isnt finished…. And this is great!
And what does it mean to be making her Broadway directorial debut with this production?
Its a privilege to be doing this work onanystage inanytheater, she says.
We could be performing on top of a trash can, and Id still be in heaven.
Davis wears a Loro Piana sweater.
Arenas wears a Banana Republic shirt, Ulla Johnson earrings, and a Jennifer Meyer necklace.
Once the rest of the cast was in place, the play was effectively finished in the rehearsal room.
(WithPurpose,she makes her Broadway debut.)
Jacobs-Jenkins, by contrast, responds directly to the flesh and blood that is in front of him.
It can also take a bit of time.
The reworking continued apace in New York.
Its hard to say one enjoys itone finds joyinit, Lennix tells me, laughing.
Its like, Actually, the blood vessels should be connectedthisway, she muses.
You know what I mean?
We need to find a new route so that this heart can pump.
Now Im becoming obsessed with peoples relationships and inner landscapes.
Hill wears an Officine Generale jacket and Rag & Bone shirt.
Young wears a Self-Portrait top and Pandora earrings and bracelet.
When I ask about his stress level in the weeks before previews, he practically scoffs.
For one thing, working with a group that he trusts and respects this much is his happy place.
For another, Its like, what would I be stressed about?
he says, smiling wryly.
Its just a play.
Produced by Preiss Creative.
