Purpose

Chicago’s Steppenwolf theatre is well-known for its dinner party plays, as in this premiere production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' masterpiece Purpose and the much-acclaimed August: Osage County.  And another American theatrical trope is familiar in Purpose:  it revolves around a family reunion, in this case an upper middle class, African American family in Chicago, famed for their historic roles as celebrity preachers and leaders in the civil rights movement. 

We’re in the rich mahogany home of Father Solomon Jasper (Marcus Hamilton), beautifully detailed by designer Jeremy Allen, as snow falls beyond the windows.  From the wall Martin Luther King gazes down at his old friend, as Jasper sits, retired now and obsessed with beekeeping. Hamilton excels as Father Jasper, his restless reaching to be back in God’s light, as he bemoans his past moral failings and sexual betrayal – and tonight, the even heavier disappointments of his two hopeless sons.

Solomon “Junior” (Maurice Marvel Meredith) is fresh out of prison for embezzlement, his promising political career squandered. Junior’s grovelling attempts through the weekend to win back favour is cringeworthy comedy, while his wife, Morgan (Grace Bentley-Tsibuah), about to serve prison time for the same crime, is already explosive with anger.  The younger son, Nazareth, has always been the black sheep, shapeless and shy; he’s retreated into nature photography, rejecting God and all his family’s public virtues. Naz is also our beguiling narrator and Tinashe Mangwana is both profound and understated in the role.

The indomitable matriarch, Claudine (Deni Gordan), is a lion in protecting the Jasper’s social position, and still policing the family outbursts after so long white-washing her husband’s rampant infidelities.  She soon regrets inviting Naz’ supposed “girlfriend” to stay for dinner: Aziza (an excitable Sisi Stringer) is actually queer and relying on the asexual Naz for his donor sperm.  It all comes out over dinner!

Every character in Purpose has, had or seeks a purpose; for many their choices crumble compared to the moral heroism of this once elite black family, even when these too carried twisted truths and hypocrisy.

With each gripping revelation perfectly paced, Zindzi Okenyo’s direction keeps this long unfolding of family chapters authentic and compelling. Kelsey Lee’s intimate lighting follows the chapters exquisitely as does the jazz infected chords from James Peter Brown’s sound.

Martin Portus

Photographer: Prudence Upton