TDF Stages

Glenn Davis, Jon Michael Hill and Alana Arenas discuss starring in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' hit play on Broadway

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It's appropriate that the name above the title of the acclaimed new Broadway play Purpose isn't any of its stars. That's because Steppenwolf's Purpose, as it's billed, is a true ensemble piece commissioned by the half-century-old Chicago theatre company, which launched the careers of Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf and many other lauded artists.

Written by the audacious Tony-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate, Gloria, Everybody) and directed by Phylicia Rashad, it's a dazzling dysfunctional epic centering on the Jaspers, a Jesse Jackson-esque clan known for its preachers and politicians. Set during the dramatic homecoming of Junior (Glenn Davis), a former Illinois state senator who just finished a prison stint for embezzling campaign funds, Purpose is a fraught family reunion for his disconnected younger brother Naz (Jon Michael Hill, who narrates), their perpetually disappointed patriarch Solomon (Harry Lennix), their optics-obsessed mother Claudine (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) and Junior's indignant wife Morgan (Alana Arenas in a blazing Broadway debut). Their clashes are exacerbated by the arrival of an outsider, Aziza (Purlie Victorious Tony winner Kara Young), who's long worshipped the Jaspers as Civil Rights icons. She finds out firsthand why you should never meet your heroes.

After a wildly successful run in the Windy City last year, this funny, fiery and unforgiving portrait of a famous flawed family has transferred to Broadway's Hayes Theatre for a limited run through July 6. TDF Stages spoke with three of its stars, Glenn Davis, Jon Michael Hill and Alana Arenas, all members of Steppenwolf's prestigious ensemble, about their palpable camaraderie, the artistic benefits of their long-standing collaboration and how they create the "mysterious, special juice" that makes Purpose so delicious.

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Raven Snook: I know Steppenwolf commissioned this play in 2015. Glenn, since you serve as the theatre's co-artistic director in addition to appearing in the production, could you talk a bit about the development process?

Glenn Davis: For the last 25 years or so, Steppenwolf has had a large concentration on new work. That was put into effect by the former artistic director, Martha Lavey. She was really excited about having playwrights write things for members of the ensemble. Early on in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' career, she identified him as someone who would write something compelling for the ensemble. He wasn't given a prompt, he was just told to write for specific actors, and Jon, Alana and I were included in that cadre of artists. Around 2019, we did our first workshop, and we had planned it for the next season, but that didn't happen obviously. I was appointed co-artistic director in 2021 and asked if he could finish it up. We premiered it last year in Chicago and now we're on Broadway. So it's been a 10-year journey with this play that he was writing for the three of us, essentially.

Snook: How does being part of an ensemble differ from being an actor for hire, and how does it inform your performances?

Alana Arenas: I feel like our ensemble is a family, and there're so many dynamics within a family, right?

Snook: Hopefully, you're a more functional family than the Jaspers!

Arenas: Yes! We all respect each other as artists, so there's a great deal of trust and shared history when we have the opportunity to work together. There's a very deep knowing there. I know these guys. It's a really beautiful feeling.

Jon Michael Hill: There's a thing that happens when you work with people you genuinely celebrate. It's rare and we don't take that for granted when we get up on stage. When you have that level of appreciation for the artists you're working with, there's another gear that you can turn on when you go out there. And I think that's been the ethos of Steppenwolf since its inception. Those were all people who studied together, who grew up together, who had that shared history Alana was talking about. You're able to create this mysterious, special juice.

Davis: That's the thing that separates Steppenwolf from every other theatre company: We have this amazing group of artists from different backgrounds and demographics, and we all come together to work on something that we really think is worthwhile. When I get on stage with Alana or Jon, they're two of my closest friends in the world. Alana and I went to college together, I've known her more than 20 years! I look at her sometimes like—hey, we're doing a play! That never gets old. Never. And I hope it's like that for another 20-plus years. When Alana and I go into a room together, we dial right in. When it's me and Jon, we just go there. And it's great fun. You can't duplicate that shared history.

That said, the other actors in show with us—Kara Young, Harry Lennix and LaTanya Richardson Jackson—are amazing. They really buy into the ensemble ethos that Steppenwolf is built on. We talked a lot about it in rehearsal. Phylicia Rashad, our director, who I can't say enough amazing things about, has worked with Steppenwolf, so she would talk about the fabric of how we work together. The philosophy is there's no one man or woman above the group. We're all in it together. That's simply the ensemble mantra.

Snook: How has the production evolved since its world premiere in Chicago? Were there a lot of rewrites? Jon, you have many intense monologues.

Hill: Since the beginning, Alana would see the rewrites and come up to me and just say, "I'm thinking about you, brother." Branden learned a lot watching the run in Chicago, and he really wanted to continue to fine-tune and clarify and deepen the play, so that work continued when we got to New York. We were receiving pages pretty often, right up until opening weekend, that's just how his brain works. I'm sure if we had a longer preview process, he would have kept going! He's just always looking to sharpen, sharpen, sharpen. I think the thrust of the play feels the same as it did in Chicago. But the changes from the inside are significant.

Arenas: I totally agree with that. I feel like the overall skeleton is pretty much the same. The flesh, the outer appearance is what he's constantly refining. Listening to Jon talk in response to your question, this is the first time it dawned on me that—much like a brilliant actor who continues to deepen and discover a role—Branden does that as a writer. In the theatre, we are not used to that from a writer. We're very much used to: You give me my script, you lock it, you leave me alone, I do the run, I deepen, I explore. But Branden is on the exact same journey we are.

Snook: I have seen many living-room plays. But I like to call Purpose a dining-room play. That hilarious and harrowing scene around the dinner table is jaw-dropping. Don't worry, I won't give anything away—you really have to experience it to believe it!

Arenas: This commission might have been in the works for 10 years. But when Jon and I first saw it, Branden had 40 pages, and that dinner scene was in there. I think everybody read that dinner scene and was like, "Sign me up!"

Hill: That scene is challenging because you've got all the instruments playing at once. When we were in Chicago working on that scene, it took a while to really work out the rhythm and the listening that's required, as well as maintaining the natural behavior of passing around the food. It really didn't come together until we started experimenting with the actual food, and we started getting the timing of things. That scene is different every night in terms of where you're reaching for stuff, and so it requires a heightened level of focus and listening. It's also thrilling: Once we get down at that table, man, you can see everybody's eyes. When everybody's locked in and focused, it really sings. It's a major movement in this larger piece of music.

Davis: Alana is very difficult to get into a play because her tastes are so specific. You'll send her stuff and she'll be like, "Oh, I like 60% of it, but I don't love it, so send me something else." But when she read those first 40 pages, she was like, "I'm in," because of that dinner scene. And once you see what she does in that dinner scene, it makes total sense. Because people come up to me and Jon afterward and are like, "Y'all are great. Love it. But who is that?!"

Snook: It truly is an incredible Broadway debut! When you all did this play in Chicago, it was before the 2024 presidential election. While Purpose is not an overtly political play, it explores our country's history, specifically the Civil Rights movement, what was accomplished and what wasn't. Do you find the show plays differently now than it did just a year ago?

Hill: Branden changed a couple lines to acknowledge the current climate. But the play is more timeless than the current politics. I think he's smartly steered away from grappling with what's going on. There's one line of narration that sort of alludes to what you're able to get away with right now as a politician and there are other little things like that. But he doesn't let it derail the thrust of the play.

Davis: I agree with that. I think Branden is so skilled, and he has such an ear for language and the moment. He's done a couple things that place us in time and space, but nothing that takes you out of the play to what's happening today. He's very adroitly dialed into the characters and what they're going through. I think this play will be timeless. It's one of those great epic dramas you can do five, 10, 20 years from now. Because it's about the people, not the current moment. Some of the characters traverse such a large part of American history. So history is when it's set.

Arenas: When we were workshopping the play, we had many discussions about Chicago politics and how they inform Chicago culture, which is something that Branden deeply listened to, because he's interested in authenticity and accuracy. But in no way do I think the play is about politics. The thing that interested me was getting inside these characters. We all know who Dr. King and Coretta Scott King are, but it's a whole other thing to be that woman. What is the human experience of being someone like that?

Davis: We have a dramaturg, Jonathan Green, who's great and worked with us on the historical context of the play. There is no one family or person that the play is based on; it's an amalgamation of folks. Because it's set in Chicago, there is a family that it's been more closely compared to. But I think if you ask Branden, he would say it's not a one-to-one comparison. There are elements of other Black leaders and cultural figures that he's infused into this world that he's created. For me, Jon and Alana, this is a dream scenario, doing this play with friends who you've come up with over the years. We feel hugely fortunate and blessed.

Hill: Because it's not talked about enough, Glenn Davis, as Steppenwolf co-artistic director, really had a huge hand in pulling all of this together. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And I want to celebrate this brother, what he's been able to accomplish. The buzz around the show in Chicago and then moving it to Broadway and being embraced by the community the way it is, it's really a testament to the foresight and the effort that he's put in. So that's my homey. And then Alana making the most dynamic Broadway debut ever!

Davis: That anyone has ever seen in history!

Arenas: These are my friends! I do want to second what Jon said about Glenn. There have been days that I've looked at him and I've said, "Look at you. Look at what you have done in such a short amount of time!"

Davis: These are my friends. Thank you. Thank you.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Purpose. Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.

The show is also frequently available at our TKTS Discount Booths.