During the pandemic, Nazareth Jasper (Jon Michael Hill) gets close to his neighbor, Aziza (Kara Young), so when she asks him to provide the donor sperm for a child, he agrees.  Naz is asexual and the relationship is platonic, but when Aziza drops him off at his parents’ place, his mother (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) mistakes her for a girlfriend and refuses to let her leave.  Aziza is soon starstruck: Naz’ father is Solomon Jasper (Harry Lennix), an aging civil rights icon.  His older brother, Junior (Glenn Davis), has just been released from prison for embezzlement and fraud.  Junior’s wife, Morgan (Alana Arenas), was convicted of filing a false tax return, but since the judge allowed them to serve consecutive sentences, Morgan is on her way in while Junior is on his way out.  Things get complicated.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose is his second on Broadway, right after Appropriate.  Both plays are more conservative than the bulk of his work, family dramas with lots of sharp dialogue that climax with the exposure of secrets.  Both are good examples of the genre, and the cast here is strong.  I also appreciated the scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, which included a lifetime of mementos from Solomon’s proximity to history: a portrait of Martin Luther King, photographs with luminaries, African masks and statues.

But in Jacobs-Jenkins’ best work, formal and narrative innovation animate the story: in An Octoroon, he staged a ship explosion, put actors in whiteface, and made himself a character, so he could complain about the expectations placed on Black authors.  In Everybody, he revived the medieval morality play and randomly assigned his actors new parts for each performance.  In The Comeuppance, he had the voice of Death possess and speak through a group of characters sifting through the aftermath of COVID.  To my mind, these three put Jacobs-Jenkins at the top of contemporary American theater.  I enjoyed Purpose, but I hope his next play takes more risks.

Purpose runs through August 31st at the Helen Hayes Theater.  240 W. 44th Street  New York, NY.  2 hours 50 minutes.  One intermission. Photograph by Marc J. Franklin.