Black American Politics At The Center Of ‘Purpose’

Harry Lennix as Solomon “Sonny” Jasper in Purpose. PHOTO BY JOEL MOORMAN.
Harry Lennix as Solomon “Sonny” Jasper in Purpose. PHOTO BY JOEL MOORMAN.

Black American Politics At The Center Of ‘Purpose’

By Tia Carol Jones

The theme of family, legacy and politics are central themes of playwright Brendan Jacob- Jenkins’ “Purpose,” which premieres at the Steppenwolf Theatre on March 14th.

Harry Lennix portrays the patriarch of the Jasper family, Solomon “Sonny” Jasper, Tamara Tunie portrays the matriarch Claudine Jasper, Alana Arenas portrays Morgan Jasper, Glenn Davis  portrays Solomon “Junior” Jasper Jr., Jon Michael Hill portrays Nazareth “Naz” Jasper and Ayanna Bria Bakari portrays Aziza Houston. The play is directed by Phylicia Rashad.

Lennix said the idea of family dynasties of a political nature have always been very interesting to him. He was intrigued by the story within “Purpose,” and getting into the DNA of the Jasper family. Solomon Jasper is a Pastor and a civil rights leader.

Because it was the first production of the play, it was being tweaked as the actors were in rehearsals.

“You’re trying things out, that’s part of a development process. But also, with a theatre company as renowned as the Steppenwolf Theatre, we want to make sure the play is fully mined for everything it can have,” Lennix said.

Lennix said he was looking forward to continuing to work on his character, through the production, to the end of the run of the show, and beyond, if possible. He said creating characters is a very technical process, internally and externally, working on what a character’s thought process is, what the character’s feelings might be.

“You’re working on things like listening, working on things like motivation, inspiration, all of those kinds of emotional triggers. You’re also working on very technical things, such as what does he sound like, what does he walk like,” Lennix said, adding that the character is older than he is, he is figuring out physical changes in his portrayal of the character.

Lennix said the play deals with family, common threads of loyalty, dependability, dynamics that affect the family unit, money and economics are in the play.

Lennix’s chief hope is that people are entertained and have something to think about. He wants people to be intrigued by the play.

“We want to have something recognizable; have people say, ‘oh that’s like that family,’ or ‘that’s like this family’ or it doesn’t have to be a particular family, but we do want people to have landmarks they can grab onto and feel like they’re in a comfortable place,” he said.

Tunie has a bit of insight into her character Claudine Jasper, who she describes as a family first person, who is a First Lady without a church but personifies what that means. She said Claudine is a force to be reckoned with, in the most loving possible way.

“I would say definitely Claudine is inspired by, well I think she’s a conglomerate of a few different people who are from this area. But again, I think it’s an inspiration,” she said.

Tunie said the cast is amazing and with Rashad guiding them, it has been a wonderful experience. She hopes the audience leaves entertained, but also walk away with an understanding of family, family dynamics, forgiveness, redemption, love and struggle. She said there are so many things in the play.

“I’m really hoping the community, and particularly the Black community, will turn out for our play, because I think they may recognize themselves in what they see up on the stage,” she said.

Arenas is doing her best to lean into every clue she is getting from the script about her character Morgan. She compared actors to detectives; in that they look for clues within scripts as to how to portray their characters. She described her character as someone who believes in the fruit of hard work, who might have been underestimated at some point and fierce.

“From the entire play, I’m hoping that people really consider, reconsider, revisit who they are responsible for, their loved ones, the people who are bound to them by blood, the people who are assigned to them by proximity, spiritual bond, and how to do our best to hold onto those people a little bit better, even in the face of their flawed humanity,” Arenas said.

“Purpose” runs through April 21st. Cost is $20 - $102. For tickets, visit steppenwolf.org or call 312-335-1650. The Steppenwolf Theatre Company is located at 1650 N. Halsted.

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