#LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Kara Young to Star in ‘Purpose’ on Broadway

LaTanya Richardson Jackson will return to Broadway in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s new play Purpose.

Jackson, who has previously appeared on Broadway in the 2018 production of To Kill A Mockingbird and the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, will star alongside Kara Young, who won a Tony Award last season for her role in Purlie Victorious, Harry Lennix (The Blacklist), Jon Michael Hill (Pass Over), Glenn Davis (King James) and Alana Arenas (The Bluest Eye).

Phylicia Rashad directs the new play from Jacobs-Jenkins, who wrote last season’s Tony Award-winning revival Appropriate. 

The play follows the Jasper family, which has created a powerful dynasty in Black American politics. However, when the family’s youngest son, Nazareth, comes home with an uninvited friend, the family must contend with faith, their own legacy and the cracks beneath the surface. 

Purpose is scheduled to play a limited 19-week run at the Helen Hayes Theater, with previews starting Feb. 25 and an opening night scheduled for March 17. 

Arenas, Davis, Hill and Lennix all appeared in the world premiere of Purpose at Steppenwolf in March 2024, during which time critics compared the family at the center of the play to the Jesse Jackson family. Davis is also the artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, which commissioned the play. Rashad directed that run. 

In addition to her roles as Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun and Calpurnia in To Kill A Mockingbird, Jackson directed the Tony-nominated 2022 Broadway revival of The Piano Lesson, starring her husband, Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Danielle Brooks.

Young won her Tony Award for her role as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins in Purlie Victorious opposite Leslie Odom Jr. She had made history prior the win with third consecutive Tony nominations, becoming the first Black performer to be nominated three years in a row. She was previously nominated for her roles in Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living and Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s.

Purpose is produced on Broadway by David Stone, Debra Martin Chase, Marc Platt, LaChanze, Rashad Chambers, Aaron Glick and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.