Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Winning a Pulitzer for ‘Purpose’

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins was getting ready for his first Met Gala on Monday afternoon when he got the news: his latest play, “Purpose,” which is now on Broadway, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for drama.

The Pulitzer board described “Purpose” as “a play about the complex dynamics and legacy of an upper middle class African-American family,” and praised it as “a skillful blend of drama and comedy that probes how different generations define heritage.”

The other finalists were Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!,” which is also running on Broadway, and “The Ally,” by Itamar Moses, which had an Off Broadway run last year at the Public Theater.

Jacobs-Jenkins, 40, has been a Pulitzer finalist twice before, for “Gloria” in 2016 and for “Everybody” in 2018, and last year he won a Tony Award for “Appropriate.” In 2016 he also won a so-called genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

He grew up in Washington, D.C., and now lives in Brooklyn. “An Octoroon” and “The Comeuppance” are among his other well-received works.

“Purpose,” directed by Phylicia Rashad, was first staged last year by Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, which had commissioned the play; Jacobs-Jenkins wrote it for the company’s actors. The Broadway production opened in March, and has been nominated for six Tonys, including best play.