“I’m so tired” are the first words that playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins utters when he gets on the phone. There’s good reason for that: Almost one year after winning the Tony Award for best revival of a play for his searing white Southern family drama, Appropriate, Jacobs-Jenkins is getting ready for the Tony Awards 2025 , where he’s nominated for best play for Purpose, which follows a politically prominent Black family in Chicago on one unforgettable evening. In a year stacked with buzzy plays like Cole Escola ’s smash hit, Oh, Mary!, and the Sadie Sink –led John Proctor Is the Villain, Purpose has perhaps emerged as the leader of the pack, earning the Pulitzer Prize for drama and taking home best play at the Drama Desk Awards.

If Jacobs-Jenkins does emerge victorious

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