One of the many great joys in watching Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ sometimes searing, always riveting new Broadway play, Purpose, is the trio of female performances. Not to take away anything from the three terrific male turns, but these women are something else! They each fully embody Jacobs-Jenkins’ exquisitely complex characters and take them to fascinating places beginning with LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Tony nominee for A Raisin in the Sun in 2014) as the family matriarch who is far more devious and manipulative than her initial caring and devoted demeanor would indicate. This woman is fully in charge and has been for decades. Then, we have Tony-winner Kara Young (last season’s revival of Purlie Victorious) as our protagonist’s friend, whose kooky nature has her in awe of her surroundings but, by the end of Act One, she’s grappling with major life choices, and we need only look at her facial expressions to understand her conflicting feelings. Finally, and most explosively, Alana Arenas is curiously quiet and attitudinal until it’s time for her to unleash a tornado of anger, resentment and hostility towards a family that she believes couldn’t care less about her. We immediately empathize with her and root for her.
All three deserve Tony recognition. And I single them out at the outset because it’s this female triumvirate we care about most. These women are constantly putting up with, trying to fix, and having to deal with, the often hurtful and pathetic behavior of the men in the wholly believable world that the playwright so painstakingly creates.
Commissioned and produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Purpose takes place over a stormy (both literal and figurative) 24-hour period in the home of the fictional, Chicago-based, Jaspers—most likely based on the Jesse Jackson clan—a prominent African-American family that gather to celebrate the birthday of Mama Jasper (Jackson), even though it’s not really her birthday.
The reason for the delayed festivities is because the eldest son, Junior (Glenn Davis), was in a minimum-security prison for committing a number of white-collar crimes. He’s out now and his wife, Morgan (Arenas) is about to go in— even though she, “didn’t do anything but film my damn taxes like the government told me to —not even!—signed a piece of paper y’all’s family accountants told me to.”
Nazareth “Naz” Jasper (a tireless John Michael Hill), who does a heck of a lot of fourth-wall-breaking-speak, is the youngest son who just returned home from shooting nature photography in Ontario. He’s warmly greeted by Mama as her “weird son.”
The revered Reverend Solomon Jasper (Harry Lennix) is the family patriarch, a formidable if frightening (at least to his sons) figure who barely greets Naz. He’s too preoccupied with his new hobby, bee-keeping.
Rounding out the dinner guests, is Azziza (Young), Naz’s queer friend, who unbeknownst to the family may be carrying Naz’s child—via turkey baster sperm donation since Naz is asexual, something no one in the family seems to believe, understand or support.
An early highlight scene has Azziza stunned by meeting Naz’s “famous Black family,” who she grew up admiring. She had no idea about Naz’s lineage, nor did she even know that ‘Naz’ was short for Nazareth. Young has a blast with these moment when she gets to fan-girl-out and she even takes selfies with Solomon!
Both sons are colossal disappointments to Solomon, who has some mega-secrets that prove he has no right to judge. Junior is a mess, desperate for his father’s love and support but destined to screw things up every time. Naz is a disappointment simply because he left divinity school to pursue his real passion.
And, reminiscent of Tracey Letts’ epic play August: Osage County, Purposecontains a revealing and rollicking dinner table scene that ends Act One with a bang, It’s quite a sequence but never achieves the level of humor or drama that Letts’ work did.
Like his Tony-winning play, Appropriate, exceptionally revived last year, Purpose is hilarious, poignant and cutting, with constantly shifting character empathy. The most thrilling plays will always have audiences questioning who they sympathize and empathize with, right up until the end. Here, no one is drawn in any simplistic fashion. Each have their own foibles and idiosyncrasies. Most are deeply flawed.
And props to Jacobs-Jenkins for a pre-final-monologue moment between father and son that I found refreshing in its originality and content.
Todd Rosenthal’s amazing set says so much about the affluent family. A portrait of Martin Luther King sits so prominently, your eyes can’t help but constantly be drawn to it.
I have some issues with is how monologue-heavy the play is, specifically Naz constantly addressing the audience with so much backstory and explanation, which sometimes felt superfluous and redundant. I wish Jacobs-Jenkins could have woven more of what was important into the actual interactions and saved the broken fourth wall for what was essential.
I also had a problem with the manner in which director Phylicia Rashad stages the long dinner scene. I had a great aisle seat in Row D, yet I was unable to see most of the reactions of Azziza to what was being said. And I assume many other audience members had trouble seeing other ensemble members, depending on where they were seated. I did like that Naz had his back to the audience, but there could have been a smarter fix so everyone could be privy to all faces.
Purpose is a play that is chock full of content probing human nature and the things that people are forced to do to protect their families, lives and livelihoods. It’s an exhilarating theatrical triumph.
Purpose will run through July 6, 2025, at the Helen Hayes Theater, NYC
Tickets: purposeonbroadway.com
