'Purpose': Toxic family blockbuster

‘PURPOSE’: (left to right) LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Glenn Davis, Kara Young & Jon Michael Hill. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

PURPOSE
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Phylicia Rashad
Through July 6, 2025
The Helen Hayes Theater
240 W 44th St.
https://purposeonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play last year with the hit dysfunctional-family drama Appropriate. Now, he’s scored with another engrossing blockbuster about a toxic family, Purpose.

The story focuses on the famous Jaspers, an influential, affluent African-American family in Chicago. The Jaspers are renowned for their political influence and religion. Patriarch Solomon “Sonny” Jasper (Harry Lennix) is a former Civil Rights leader who now works as a pastor and beekeeper. He and his affable but tough-as-nails wife Claudine (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) have both helped the Jasper family make a good name for themselves, and they will do anything to maintain their respectable image. Claudine has a law degree, but she doesn’t really practice law and instead works as a socialite for human rights and various Black causes.

Meet the Jasper family

Purpose unfolds with narrator Nazareth or “Naz” Jasper (Jon Michael Hill) as he just returned home from New York with uninvited friend Aziza (Kara Young). Naz is the youngest son and has dropped out of divinity school. He explains the family’s many shortcomings and the conflicts that ultimately result when everyone gets together for a reunion.

The play has ongoing themes of social prominence, social and racial justice, identity and faith. The story is not exactly anything new or original, but it rings with veracity and reality regardless.

Highbrow soap opera

The story unfurls like a highbrow soap opera as we meet the many troubled and flawed family members.

First, there’s Junior (Glenn Davis), the older son and politician who has just been released from prison after being convicted of mismanaging campaign funds. His fashionable wife Morgan (Alana Arenas) is in trouble and will soon do time behind bars for helping her husband with his crime.

The other character, Aziza, is not a family member. She’s the high-spirited, earthbound outsider from Harlem and is initially impressed by meeting the famous Jasper clan, but she soon learns the family is not as glamorous as they seem.

Dysfunctional dinner

Sparks fly when everyone sits down to dinner and Junior starts talking about incarceration reform. Sonny is not pleased that his oldest son has little interest in carrying on his legacy. The father is also unhappy that Naz has decided to become a nature photographer instead of a pastor.

When questions about Naz’s sexuality are raised, Aziza reveals that she is hoping to have a child with him, but marriage is not in the plans because she only wants Naz as a sperm donor. It would be unfair to reveal anymore because what’s most enjoyable about Purpose is hearing all the juicy secrets the family members reveal though arguing, complete with razor-sharp dialogue that is crisp, biting and often hilarious in a dark way.

Lies & deceit

The story is about the lies and deceit famous families spin, all to keep up appearances and maintain good PR in the media. The Jaspers could be the African-American Kennedys, and Sonny is a composite of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Dr. King’s portrait hangs prominently in the Jaspers’ living room) and countless other Civil Rights leaders.

Seamless direction & great cast

The show has so many good elements, from the outstanding scenic design of Todd Rosenthal to Phylicia Rashad’s seamless direction. Ms. Rashad gets great performance from everyone in the gifted cast.

Harry Lennix is perfect as Solomon, with his imposing voice and command of the stage. LaTanya Richardson Jackson is equally powerful as his scheming and manipulative wife, Claudine.

Jon Michael Hill is best known for his roles on the network TV shows “Elementary,” “Detroit 1-8-7,” “Law and Order: SVU” and the HBO series “Eastbound and Down.” As a stage actor, he is first-rate, acting as both narrator and the youngest member of the Jasper family. His scenes between his father Solomon and with older brother Junior are consistently convincing and sublime.

Superb supporting cast

Supporting cast members are all excellent as well. Glenn Davis is always riveting as the failed politician Junior. As long-suffering wife Morgan, Alana Arenas gives a knockout performance. Her shouting match at the dinner table is one of the show’s highlights, and she commands instant respect—and fear—when she has a meltdown.

Tony Award winner Kara Young (who won Best Actress for a Featured Role in a Play for Purlie last year) proves she’s a rising star to keep watching on Broadway. Ms. Young manages to make her character Aziza one of the only sane people in the show. She also has some of the best lines and dialogue, delivering them with aplomb and getting many laughs from the audience.

The play was originally produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and Purpose deserves a decent run on Broadway. It’s an insightful, sometimes over-the-top but never dull evening of family drama at its best.

Published March 24, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on March 20, 2025