Purpose - Play

Purpose - Play at OneAmerica Mainstage - Indiana Repertory Theater

A family can agree on its public legacy and still have no idea how to talk to one another at dinner. Then the party starts, and the polish begins to crack. That's the tension at the heart of Purpose, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play about the Jasper family, whose public influence in civil rights, church and politics gets tested by private tensions during a family celebration. Then an uninvited guest arrives. Secrets that were carefully managed start spilling into the open.

There's real weight behind it, too. Purpose won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. Those honors belong to the play itself, but they tell you something about the writing you'll be watching unfold at the OneAmerica Mainstage at Indiana Repertory Theater in Indianapolis. Tyrone Phillips directs this local production, presented by IRT as a co-production with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. It's a chance to see a celebrated contemporary work in a live room, where every pause and confrontation lands in real time.

Best of all, this story keeps asking the questions families rarely say out loud. What do we owe our legacy? Who do we protect, and what does loyalty cost? Bring a friend, a parent or a sibling, then talk about it afterward. Your Sunday matinee on January 31, 2027, begins at 2:00 PM. Don't just hear about the play everyone's discussing. Reserve your seats for Purpose in Indianapolis.