In “Purpose,” an extraordinary play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Tony winner for last season’s “Appropriate”) opening tonight on Broadway in a terrifically acted, crowd-pleasing production that marks Phylicia Rashad’s Broadway directorial debut,  Kara Young as Aziza is starstruck when she discovers that her shy friend Naz (John Michael Hill) is the son of the Rev. Solomon Jasper. (Harry Lennix)
“Your father has been Solomon Jasper this whole time!?..” Aziza exclaims “You said your daddy was some sort of reverend but not like this kind of reverend! Not like a I-organize-marches reverend! Not like I-used-to-kick-it-with-Rosa-Parks reverend! Not like a MLK-shrine-in- the-living-room reverend!”

But then Aziza has dinner with the Jasper family in their dining room, sitting close to the oil painting of Martin Luther King Jr,  but their behavior —  which bears little resemblance to Dr. King’s — turns her awe into shock.

In “Purpose,’ Jacobs-Jenkins is clearly inspired by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his family – not just their accomplishments, but their scandals. 

The play takes place on a single weekend when Naz is returning to his parents’ home in Chicago to celebrate the birthday of his mother Claudine (LaTanya Richardson-Jackson.) It’s not actually her birthday, but it’s less awkward to claim it as the reason for the celebration, rather than the real reason – the homecoming of Naz’s older brother Solomon Jasper Jr. (Glenn Davis,) a former State Senator, who has just been released from prison after serving time for embezzling campaign funds . (Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned his seat in Congress and went to years after pleading guilty to spending $750,000 in campaign money on personal items.) Junior’s wife Morgan (Alena Arenas), who was convicted of filing a false tax return (as was Jesse Jackson Jr.’s now ex-wife Sandra) , will soon be going to prison; the judge gave the couple consecutive rather than concurrent sentences so that their two children could have one parent at home. Morgan is not in a celebratory mood. She feels betrayed, so  blinded by the charisma and reputation of Jaspers — “Symbol of Black Excellence and Black Power and Black Righteousness” that “you can’t see the old man standing there in front of you just scratching his ass.”

Indeed, we too are dazzled by the Jaspers’ extraordinary gifts of spontaneous oratory, especially by the matriarch Claudine.  Their eloquence feels authentic, never caricatured, even when they are discussing matters that are far from exalted, such as their effort to keep from the public eye those young people who claim to be the Rev’s illegitimate children (another nod to an actual Jackson story.)

Much of “Purpose” is narrated by Naz, the black sheep of this famous Black family, neither a politician nor a preacher (he dropped out of divinity school), and very far from a glad-handing orator. He prefers to be by himself, ideally out in Nature, taking photographs, which has turned from his hobby to his profession, thanks in part to Aziza’s encouragement. The two met when they were neighbors in Harlem and grew close during the pandemic. Aziza, a lesbian has asked Naz, who is asexual, to be her sperm donor. (This part of the play very unlikely to have any connection to a Jackson family event.)  He happened to be in Canada photographing lakes and fog when she began ovulating, so she agreed to drive from New York to Canada for a, um, deposit, and then drive him all the way to Chicago for the birthday celebration. It was only because he left his phone charger in her car that she shows up in the house at all. Much humor is generated by the assumptions made by the Jaspers at the presence of Naz’s “friend” (as they keep on referring to her, with unmistakably implied air quotes)

“Purpose” has a  running time of three hours (including intermission) which is perhaps twenty minutes longer than it needs to be. The playwright takes a while wrapping up loose ends of the plot in ways that felt unnecessary. Even so, it is a consistently entertaining play, and something more, a subtle, intelligent contemplation of the various ways the characters search for purpose, and how sweet it is to have one.

In his old age, the Rev. Jasper has turned to bee-keeping, which is an activity his grandfather did in the South. At one point, he confides in Naz his admiration for the bees, and his envy of them.”In a hive, you know, they are all related and they are literally born with a role to play. They emerge from their cells with no confusion as to their purpose….And honey never ever spoils.”

Purpose
Hayes Theater through July 6, 2025
Running time: Three hours (including a 15 minute intermission)
Tickets: $69 – $299
Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Phylicia Rashad
Scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Dede M. Ayite, lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker, and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen
Cast: LaTanya Richardson-Jackson as Claudine Jasper, Harry Lennix as Solomon “Sunny” Jasper, John Michael Hill as Nazareth “Naz” Jasper, Glenn Davis as Solomon “Junior” Jasper, Alena Arenas as Morgan Jasper, and Kara Young as Aziza Houston