The Family Business, Phylicia Rashad Brings Purpose to the Geffen
The Pulitzer and Tony winner arrives in Westwood November 11 with its original Broadway cast and Rashad directing.
The play that swept New York’s biggest prizes is coming to Westwood with its family intact. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2025 Tony Award for Best Play, runs at the Geffen Playhouse’s Gil Cates Theater from November 11 to December 20, directed by Phylicia Rashad.
The original Broadway cast makes the trip. Alana Arenas, Glenn Davis, Jon Michael Hill, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Harry Lennix and the two-time Tony winner Kara Young are all aboard. Young plays Aziza Houston through the November 29 matinee, and Nija Okoro takes over the role from that evening through closing.
The play follows the Jaspers, a powerful family whose private grievances spill out when the youngest son comes home. It began at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and ran at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre until August 31, 2025.
Todd Rosenthal designed the set, Dede Ayite the costumes and Amith Chandrashaker the lighting. The running time is 2 hours 50 minutes with one intermission, so plan dinner early.
