Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on the inspiration for ‘Purpose,’ his Tony-winning family drama
PBS News Hour - Segments
PBS NewsHour
4.1 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 July 2025
⏱️ 6 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | It's been quite a few months for a 40-year-old writer Brandon Jacobs Jenkins, with his play, Purpose, winning both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. |
| 0:11.9 | Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown talked with him recently at Broadway's Hayes Theater for our Arts and Culture series, Canvas. |
| 0:20.1 | Somebody hurry up and bless this food. |
| 0:21.6 | Dinner with the Jasper family. |
| 0:23.6 | Heavenly Father. |
| 0:24.6 | It brings out a few issues. |
| 0:26.6 | I don't know why I thought. |
| 0:27.6 | Go ahead. |
| 0:28.6 | Go ahead. |
| 0:29.6 | Some minor tensions. |
| 0:30.6 | No, son, why don't you go on the head? |
| 0:33.6 | You are apparently the guest of honor. |
| 0:36.6 | No, father. |
| 0:38.3 | That was just me on autopilot. |
| 0:40.3 | You are the head of this family. |
| 0:44.3 | Buckle up! |
| 0:49.3 | And now the play purpose is bringing Brandon Jacobs Jenkins some major honors. |
| 0:57.0 | It's very surreal though, because it's, I look, I turn around and it's my name and then Pulitzer Prize for Draw. |
| 1:04.0 | It's just ridiculous, you know? |
| 1:06.0 | But it's real. |
| 1:07.0 | It's real. |
| 1:08.0 | No, it's happening. It's here all the time. |
... |
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