Purpose - Play

Purpose - Play at OneAmerica Mainstage - Indiana Repertory Theater

The hardest truths in a family aren't always hidden. Sometimes they're the ones nobody wants to say out loud. Purpose asks what happens when the celebration starts and the cameras, so to speak, are no longer the only audience. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play follows the Jasper family, whose public influence in civil rights, church and politics stands in sharp contrast to the tensions they keep behind closed doors. Then an uninvited guest walks in, and the carefully held peace begins to crack.

That's the kind of story that follows you out of the theater. Secrets surface. Loyalty gets tested. Legacy stops being a word on a plaque and becomes a weight someone has to carry. If you love drama that feels personal, where you recognize a look, a silence or an old family argument, this one is built to hit close to home. And you can see it with an audience around you, which makes every revelation land harder.

Purpose won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, honors that belong to the play itself. Now Indiana Repertory Theatre presents it in Indianapolis as a co-production with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, with Tyrone Phillips directing the local production. Your Sunday, February 7, 2027 evening at 6:00 PM at the OneAmerica Mainstage could be spent with one of the most talked-about American plays of its moment. Reserve your seat for Purpose in Indianapolis and be in the room when the Jaspers' story comes out.