Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is the hottest American playwright working today.

Last year, his play “Appropriate” won several Tony Awards, including best revival of a play and one for lead actress Sarah Paulson. It was also a big commercial success. This past June, “Purpose” won him a second Tony — this time for best new play — as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

“My friends kid me about those awards now — they can’t say something without adding ‘Tony this,’ or ‘Pulitzer that,’” he said recently on a Zoom call from Minneapolis, where he’s polishing the book for the new pre-Broadway musical adaptation of the Prince film “Purple Rain.”

“These are not things I ever imagined for myself 10 or 15 years ago,” he added, modestly. “I was just writing these weird little plays.”

Toronto audiences a

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