"To succeed in life you need three things-
a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone."
-Reba McEntire
Purpose
WRITTEN BY
Branden Jacobs Jenkins
DIRECTED BY
Sidney Horton
WINNER - 2025 Tony Award for Best Play
WINNER - 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
WINNER - 2025 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play
WINNER - 2025 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Play
Top Theatre of 2025 - Washington Post
Dates
August 6 - 22, 2027
showtimes
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m.
Venue
Arts Factory
run time
Approximately 2 hours, plus a fifteen minute intermission
content
This production contains mature language, family conflict, emotional and psychological abuse, discussions of race, religion, and generational trauma, as well as moments of intense interpersonal confrontation. Recommended ages 16+.
About the Show
For decades, the Jasper family has stood as a pillar of Black American politics—civil rights leaders, pastors, congressmen. But when the youngest son returns home to Chicago with an uninvited guest in tow, old loyalties crack under the weight of long-buried secrets and unresolved resentments. As the family gathers under one roof, they're forced into a reckoning with faith, legacy, and the price of believing in something larger than yourself.
Purpose is a sharp, funny, and devastating portrait of a family determined to protect its public image even as the truth pushes to the surface. It's an epic story about what we inherit from our parents, what we owe to history, and what happens when the mask finally slips.
What People Are Saying
Praise from previous productions
The New Yorker
“A thrilling Battle Royale… A hilarious war of all against all. The superb Steppenwolf ensemble gives Bravura performances.”
New York Post
“Unstoppably fierce, funny and ruthless. The highlight of the Broadway season.”
New York Daily News
"A thumping, riveting, guns-blazing, major new American play”
Get Tickets
Advance Purchase Online: $32.30 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Night of Show at the Door: $37.55 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Students and Educators: $21.80 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Volunteers: We welcome volunteers to help with ushering and concessions at each performance. Volunteers get to see the show for free. Please visit our Volunteer Registration page to sign up.
Discounted pricing available for groups of 10 or more, contact us at info@threebonetheatre.com to learn more.
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS WILL GO ON SALE ON OCTOBER 1
flex passes available now!
Meet the Artists
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Playwright
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright, producer, Tony Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist. Recent theatre credits include Appropriate (Winner! 2024 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play; Winner! 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play, Signature Theatre), The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre), Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), An Octoroon (Winner! 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience) and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He currently teaches at Yale University and serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Honors include a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.
Supporting Materials
Digital Program
Download the full program to learn more about the artistic team and our community partner.
Discussion Guide
Keep the conversation going with our show-specific discussion guide developed by our Education Manager.