Geffen Playhouse brings original Broadway cast of 'Purpose' to L.A. in 2026-27 season

When Times theatre professional Charles McNulty declared Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Tony Award-winning play “Purpose” the champion caller play of 2025, helium wrote, “I won’t clasp my enactment for an L.A. production.”

As it turns out, helium didn’t person to.

The L.A. premiere of “Purpose,” featuring its archetypal Broadway cast, volition pb Geffen Playhouse’s 2026-27 play with a batch of performances opening successful November. The Geffen’s creator director, Tarell Alvin McCraney, has been striving to get the melodramatic satire astir a prestigious Chicago Black governmental dynasty to L.A. since helium saw it successful previews astatine Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, wherever helium is an ensemble member.

“It’s had a meteoric ride, and we’re precise fortunate to beryllium capable to get it to travel to america aft Broadway,” McCraney said.

The Geffen’s upcoming play continues with the West Coast premiere of Bess Wohl’s Ms. Magazine-inspired “Liberation” and the L.A. premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu’s sibling saga “The Monsters,” on with the first-ever staging of L.A. playwright Grace McLeod’s existent property drama “Closing Costs.”

Capping disconnected the twelvemonth is simply a accumulation of Alice Childress’ modern classic, “Wine successful the Wilderness,” acceptable amid the Harlem Uprising of 1964. Broadway icon LaChanze Sapp-Gooding is acceptable to direct.

With this lineup, McCraney said helium aimed to “engage america successful pugnacious questions that are facing our communities, but successful the astir joyous oregon innovative ways possible.”

“As a idiosyncratic who is newer to the L.A. community, I admit that there’s truthful overmuch facing america successful presumption of economics to lodging to wars and unit adjacent and far,” helium said, adding that with specified superior issues successful mind, radical request spaces for amusive and excitement, and besides to “talk astir those things and prosecute successful those things.”

So how, helium asked, tin that beryllium done, “in a mode that feels invigorating and hopeful?”

The Academy Award-winning screenwriter added that helium intentionally chose productions that code the existent governmental scenery without waxing “didactic.”

“They besides person an constituent that’s spiritual, that catches you disconnected guard,” helium said, “and I deliberation that’s truly important, you cognize — the abstraction successful betwixt wherever we are each trying to imagination is specified a susceptible and indispensable abstraction erstwhile truthful overmuch is coming astatine america truthful fast.”

“We’re trying to marque definite that we proceed to prosecute L.A. artists and enactment with different L.A. theaters to truly marque definite you each consciousness similar you’re coming location and having a speech with your assemblage erstwhile you travel into the Geffen,” said Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Beyond thematic inspirations, McCraney said his picks for the forthcoming play besides acceptable the accepted Geffen play structure: 1 brand-new play, 1 classical (or a middle-aged, classical contender) and a fewer modern hits to circular things out.

“We’re trying to marque definite that folks are capable to spot plays that possibly they didn’t drawback successful different parts of the world,” helium said, adding that the halfway conception of the Geffen is “you’re getting world-class theatre astatine your affable vicinity playhouse.”

This season, the shiny caller happening is “Closing Costs,” which is being produced successful relation with L.A.’s IAMA Theatre Company. As witty arsenic it is wise, McLeod’s play dives into the farcical realm of L.A.’s wildly overpriced existent property marketplace portion delivering genuine commentary astir the sociopolitical dynamics that made it that way.

“Nothing knocked the upwind retired of my thorax [more] than erstwhile the play started with radical trying to merchantability oregon bargain a house,” McCraney said. “As a idiosyncratic who has present reached an property wherever I should ain a location — and [with] each quality article, including successful the L.A. Times, telling america however perilous it is — it’s 1 of those things wherever I’m like, ‘Good God, what person we done?’”

“The champion happening we could bash is laughter astir it,” McCraney said.

Since McCraney was appointed arsenic the Geffen’s creator manager successful 2023, he’s sought to level timely signifier productions similar “Closing Costs,” with themes that consciousness applicable to Angelenos. McCraney adjacent picked “The Monsters,” which is acceptable successful the satellite of section mixed martial arts, with the 2028 L.A. Olympics successful mind.

He’s besides had to larn to discontinue mounting expectations for audiences, which are inherently fickle.

“It’s a bittersweet surrender that you cannot foretell anything,” McCraney said, adding that the champion helium tin bash is travel his instincts toward scripts that disturbance thing wrong himself.

In summation to its amusement programming, McCraney said the Geffen this play volition besides widen invitations to L.A. assemblage members with audience-facing workshops geared toward divers ages and demographics.

“We person immoderate things up our sleeves,” helium said, teasing the possibilities.