Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 48th season with the world premiere of Purpose, an epic family drama by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad. Purpose will play March 14 – April 21, 2024 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago Single tickets for starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. The press opening is Sunday, March 24 at 6 pm.
Purpose features ensemble members Alana Arenas (David Makes Man, The Brother/Sister Plays), Glenn Davis (King James, Downstate) and Jon Michael Hill (Elementary, Pass Over) with Ayanna Bria Bakari (Last Night and the Night Before, The Chi), Harry Lennix (The Blacklist, The DC Universe) and Tamara Tunie (Law & Order: SVU, I Wanna Dance with Somebody).
For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama – a long-awaited world premiere from one of the country’s most celebrated voices.
The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen (Sound Design), Tyrone Phillips (Associate Director), Matt Hawkins (Fight Choreographer), Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Jonathan L. Green (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.
Production Details:
Title: Purpose – World Premiere!
Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Director: Phylicia Rashad
Cast: Alana Arenas (Morgan Jasper), Glenn Davis (Solomon “Junior” Jasper Jr.) and Jon Michael Hill (Nazareth “Naz” Jasper) with Ayanna Bria Bakari (Aziza Houston), Harry Lennix (Solomon “Sonny” Jasper) and Tamara Tunie (Claudine Jasper).
Location: Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Thursday, March 14 – Saturday, March 23, 2024
Press performance/Opening: Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 6 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, March 26 – Sunday, April 21, 2024
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Tuesday, March 19 or Tuesday, April 16; there will be a 2 pm performance on Wednesday, April 10; there will not be a 7:30 pm performance on Wednesday, April 10.
Tickets: Single tickets for Purpose ($20 - $102) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.
Accessible Performance Dates:
Audio-described and touch tour: Sunday, April 7 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour, 3 pm curtain)
Open-captioned: Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 13 at 3 pm
ASL-interpreted: public performance: Friday, April 12 at 7:30 pm
Artist Biographies:
Alana Arenas (Morgan Jasper) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007 and created the role of Pecola Breedlove for the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Bluest Eye, which also played at the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway. Recent Steppenwolf appearances include the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of Monster, The Fundamentals, Marie Antoinette, Tribes, Belleville, Head of Passes, Good People, Three Sisters, The March, Man in Love, Middletown, The Hot L Baltimore, The Etiquette of Vigilance, The Brother/Sister Plays, The Tempest, The Crucible, Spare Change and The Sparrow Project. Other theatre credits include Disgraced (American Theater Company), The Arabian Nights (Lookingglass Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Eyes (eta Creative Arts), SOST (MPAACT), WVON (Black Ensemble Theater) and Hecuba (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Television and film credits include David Makes Man, Canal Street, Crisis, Boss, The Beast, Kabuku Rides and Lioness of Lisabi. She is originally from Miami, Florida, where she began her training at the New World School of the Arts. Alana holds a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Ayanna Bria Bakari (Aziza Houston) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Last Night and the Night Before. Chicago: Relentless, Too Heavy for Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre); Relentless, How to Catch Creation (Goodman Theatre); As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Niceties – Black Theater Alliance Award, Stickfly (Writers Theatre). Regional: The Salvagers (Asst. Dir. at Yale Repertory Theatre); Clyde's (TheaterWorks Hartford); Sunflowered (Northern Sky Theater); The Rainmaker (Peninsula Players Theatre); The Originalist (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Television: Wu-Tang: An American Saga (HULU); The CHI (Showtime); Chicago PD, Chicago Fire (NBC); Empire (FOX), 61st Street (AMC). Film: Holiday Heist (BET). Education: BFA, The Theatre School at DePaul University. Ayanna Bria is a governing ensemble member of The Story Theatre and is represented by Stewart Talent. #BLACKLIVESMATTER.
Glenn Davis (Solomon “Junior” Jasper Jr.) is an actor, producer and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company alongside Audrey Francis, where he has been an ensemble member since 2017. His Steppenwolf credits include: Downstate, The Christians, You Got Older, The Brother/Sister Plays, Head of Passes, King James (also Mark Taper Forum) and most recently Describe the Night. Broadway credits include: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (also Kirk Douglas Theatre, Mark Taper Forum). Off-Broadway credits include: Transfers (MCC Theatre), Wig Out! (Vineyard Theatre), Downstate (Playwrights Horizons) and King James (MTC). Other regional credits include: Moscow x6 (Williamstown Theatre Festival). International credits include: Downstate (National Theatre, UK); Edward II, The Winter’s Tale and As You Like It (Stratford Festival); Othello (The Shakespeare Company). Television credits include: Billions, 24, The Unit, Jericho and The Good Wife. Glenn is an Artistic Associate at the Young Vic in London and at the Vineyard Theatre in New York. He is also a partner in Cast Iron Entertainment, a collective of artists consisting of Sterling K Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, Andre Holland and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Cast Iron is currently in residence at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In 2021, Glenn founded The Chatham Grove Company along with his producing partner Tarell Alvin McCraney.
Jon Michael Hill (Nazareth “Naz” Jasper) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: True West, Pass Over, Constellations, Head of Passes, The Hot L Baltimore, The Tempest, Kafka on the Shore, The Unmentionables. Broadway: Superior Donuts, Pass Over. Off-Broadway: The Refuge Plays (New York Theatre Workshop) Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Film: Pass Over, Widows, In The Radiant City, No Pay, Nudity. Television: Upcoming: A Man in Full (Netflix), Elementary (CBS), Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC), Eastbound and Down (HBO), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) and Person of Interest (CBS).
Harry Lennix (Solomon “Sonny” Jasper) Broadway: Radio Golf. Off-Broadway: Titus Andronicus. Chicago: A Raisin in the Sun, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Permanent Collection, Othello, The Great Gatsby, King Hedley II (Mark Taper Forum). Theatre Directing: The Glass Menagerie (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), A Small Oak Tree Runs Red (Congo Square Theatre and Billie Holiday Theatre), Permanent Collection (Robey Theatre Company), Unjustifiable Acts (Goodman Theatre). Select Film & Television: Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, Ray, The Matrix franchise, Love & Basketball, Titus, The Five Heartbeats. TV: The Blacklist, Billions, Keep the Faith, Baby, Dollhouse.
Tamara Tunie (Claudine Jasper) makes her Steppenwolf debut in the role of “Claudine Jasper” in Purpose. Ms. Tunie played the role of “Florence Delva” in the National Black Theater/The New Group’s premiere of Bernarda’s Daughters, originated the role of "Kamala Harris" in The 47th at The Old Vic, London, played the role of "Gloria" in Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan’s Building the Wall at New World Stages, "Marvelous" in Danai Gurira’s Familiar for which she won an Obie, “Dorothy Brock" in 42nd Street at the Ordway Theater and “Prospero" in the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of The Tempest. She originated the roles of "Kendra" in the Barrington Stage Company production of American Son and "Det. Gwen Washburn'' in the Public Theater production of The Library directed by Steven Soderbergh. She starred as "Maggie" in the first all African American production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, “Calpurnia" in Julius Caesar opposite Denzel Washington, the 20th Anniversary Actors Fund benefit concert of Dreamgirls, and shared the Broadway stage with the late, great Lena Horne, in the musical Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. Film and television roles include I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Flight, Black Earth Rising, The Red Road, Cowboy Bebop and 23 seasons on Law & Order: SVU, to name a few.
Branden-Jacobs Jenkins (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Recent theater credits include The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre), Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), Appropriate (Obie Award; Signature Theatre), An Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience) and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He was showrunner, executive producer, and writer for HULU/FX’s drama series, Kindred, based on Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking novel. 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.
Phylicia Rashad (Director) A two-time Tony Award winner (A Raisin in the Sun and Skeleton Crew), her directing credits include Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Our Lady of 121st Street, The Roommate, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director), Immediate Family, Fences, A Raisin in the Sun and Four Little Girls. Producing credits include and Ossie Davis’ revival of Purlie Victorious on Broadway and PBS film (KCET-TV) The Old Settler. Ms. Rashad currently serves as Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University.
Accessibility
As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production (see dates above). Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/plan-your-visit/accessibility or e-mail access@steppenwolf.org.
Sponsor Information
Purpose was created with funds from the Prince Prize for Commissioning Original Work, which was awarded to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2015. It is also sponsored in part by Northern Trust, the Zell Family Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from Allstate Insurance Company, Amazon, ArentFox Schiff, Conagra Brands Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis, PNC, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America’s ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation’s premier ensemble theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Deeply rooted in its ensemble ethos, the company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to all. Groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and August: Osage County to Downstate and Pass Over—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary. Artistic programming includes a membership series; a Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; and LookOut, a multi-genre performance series. The nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education engages more than 20,000 participants annually in Chicagoland communities promoting compassion, encouraging curiosity and inspiring action. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. 2021 marked the opening of Steppenwolf’s landmark Lefkofsky Arts & Education Center—deepening the company’s commitment to Chicagoland teens and serving as a cultural nexus for Chicago. Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis are the Artistic Directors and E. Brooke Flanagan is Executive Director. Keating Crown is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees.
Steppenwolf’s Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.