Tony-nominated 'Purpose' takes audience on one family's journey as questions rise to the surface
NEW YORK (WABC) -- As we count down to Broadway's biggest night, among this year's Tony nominated plays is "Purpose" - directed by Phylicia Rashad and written by Branden Jacob Jenkins who just won the Pulitzer for it.
The show is up for six Tony Awards, including Harry Lennix and Jon Michael Hill.
In a season of splashy musicals and star-studded revivals, there is a play asking a thought-provoking question: what is our purpose?
The show takes audiences on a journey through the Jasper family - one that starts around a dinner table as secrets unfold over a candlelit dinner.
Questions of faith, identity and purpose start to rise to the surface.
"This play is almost pure philosophy put into a dramatic form, Shakespeare said 'to be or not to be,' but I think it's the same question," Lennix said. "I think it's an endlessly complex question to try to get to the bottom of, so people are attracted to that...that actually gets to the core issue of what it is to be alive. This is a play for the new world such as it is."
The ensemble has created something truly extraordinary.
"It is a intense roller coaster and filled with laughs, but it gets pretty deep," Hill said. "You've got all these big personalities in this very prominent family. There are secrets that come out. It's an explosive dinner."
It was just announced that "Purpose" will be extended by eight weeks, so you have until Aug. 31 to check out the show.
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