Playwright Branden Jacob-Jenkins made history at this year’s Tony Awards as the first Black playwright since 1987 to win for Best Play with his production “Purpose.” Set in Chicago, the Pulitzer Prize ...

This story was originally published in May 2025. On June 8, Purpose won the Tony Award for Best New Play, as well as the award for Best Featured Actress. A series by Adam Moss, the author of The Work ...

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins discusses his Tony Award-winning show “Purpose.” Playwright Branden Jacob-Jenkins made history at this year's Tony Awards as the first Black playwright since 1987 to ...

Jacobs-Jenkins has long articulated an especially vivid self-awareness. In his breakthrough “ An Octoroon,” the narrator is a Black playwright named BJJ who paints himself in whiteface and tells the ...