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Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an American playwright. His plays Gloria and Everybody were finalists for the 2016 and 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His play Appropriate made his Broadway debut as a playwright in 2023 and earned him his first Tony Award. His additional plays include An Octoroon and The Comeuppance. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Jacobs-Jenkins in 2018
Jacobs-Jenkins in 2018
Born (1984-12-29) December 29, 1984 (age 39)
Washington, DC, U.S.
OccupationPlaywright
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
New York University (MA)
Juilliard School (GrDip)
Notable awardsObie Award
Steinberg Playwright Award

Early life

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Jacobs-Jenkins was born in Washington, DC. His father, Benjamin Jenkins, is a retired dentist, and his mother, Patricia Jacobs, is a business consultant.

He graduated from Princeton University in 2006, with a major in anthropology, and earned a master's degree in performance studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2007. He has taught playwriting at the Tisch School and also at Princeton.[1] He graduated from the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School.[2]

Jacob-Jenkins worked at the New Yorker where he edited and wrote reviews.[3]

Career

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In 2013 Jacob-Jenkins became a member of the Signature Theatre Residency Five program. The program "guarantees three full productions of new work."[4]

Neighbors premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater/Public LAB in February - March 2010,[5][6] and was presented at the Matrix Theatre Company, Los Angeles in August 2010, directed by Nataki Garrett. The play was produced by the Mixed Blood Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota in September to October 2011, also directed by Nataki Garrett.[7] It premiered in Boston in 2011 with Company One.

He received the 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play for his plays Appropriate and An Octoroon.[1][8]

An Octoroon is an adaptation of The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault. It first ran at Performance Space New York from June 24 to July 3, 2010.[9] It ran Off-Off-Broadway at the Soho Rep in April 2014 to June 2014 and then at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, New York, from February 2015 to March 29, 2015.[10][11] Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland, Oregon, staged An Octoroon from September 3 to October 1, 2017.[12]

Appropriate was produced Off-Broadway by the Signature Theatre, at the Pershing Square Signature Center, from March 16, 2014 to April 13, 2014. The play was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, and also won 2014 Obie Awards for Direction (Liesl Tommy) and Performance (Johanna Day).[13][14] Michael Billington in his review of the 2019 production at the Donmar Warehouse (London), wrote: "...he appropriates the classic American family drama with results that are both gravely serious and mordantly funny...What is exhilarating about the play is that Jacobs-Jenkins pushes everything to the limits."[15] The play opened on Broadway at the Hayes Theater in December 2023.[16] It won 3 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play, from 8 nominations.[17]

War premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, in December 2014, as a commission from the Yale Rep. Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, the cast featured Tonya Pinkins, Philippe Bowgen, Rachael Holmes, Greg Keller and Trezana Beverley.[18] War opened at the Lincoln Center LCT3 series Off-Broadway on May 21, 2016 in previews, officially on June 6, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, and ran through July 3.[19][20][21] He wrote War while on a Fulbright Fellowship in Germany.[1][22]

Everybody was produced Off-Broadway by the Signature Theatre, and opened on January 31, 2017 in previews, officially on February 21. The play is "a modern riff on one of the oldest plays in the English language." Everybody is suggested by the 15th-century morality play Everyman.[23] Directed by Lila Neugebauer, the cast includes Jocelyn Bioh, Brooke Bloom, Michael Braun, Marylouise Burke, Louis Cancelmi, Lilyana Tiare Cornell, David Patrick Kelly, Lakisha Michelle May and Chris Perfetti. The role of Everybody is chosen by lottery.[24][23][25] Jacobs-Jenkins explained the play: "The concept...is that every night there’ll be a different Everyman, chosen by lottery, so the cast will shift a lot. This may be an insane idea. We’re assuming all these lovely actors are going to memorize the entire script.”[26] Everybody was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[27]

His play Girls premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre from October 4, 2019 to October 26. The play was directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly. The play is a contemporary version of Euripides’ Greek tragedy The Bacchae, and contains dance music and live-streaming video.[28][29]

His work has been seen at The Public Theater, Signature Theater, PS122, Soho Rep, Yale Repertory Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, the Wilma Theater (Philadelphia), CompanyOne and SpeakEasy Stage in Boston, Theater Bielefeld in Bielefeld, Germany, the National Theatre in London, and the HighTide Festival in the UK.[30]

Jacobs-Jenkins currently serves on the board of Soho Rep in New York City.[31]

He joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin MFA playwriting program, in the 2019 semester. He is joined by Annie Baker, with whom he served as co-artistic directors for the MFA playwriting program at Hunter College of the City University of New York.[32]

His play Purpose will transfer to Broadway's Helen Hayes Theater beginning in February of 2025 after a critically acclaimed run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.[33]

Gloria

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Gloria was produced Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre from June 15, 2015 to July 18, 2015 and was directed by Evan Cabnet.[34] The play received a workshop at the Vineyard Theatre in January 2013.[35] The play concerns an "ambitious group of editorial assistants at a notorious Manhattan magazine."[36] Gloria was nominated for the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Play.[37] Gloria was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[38] The Pulitzer committee wrote: "A play of wit and irony that deftly transports the audience from satire to thriller and back again."[39] Gloria received two nominations for the Outer Critics Circle Award: Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play; and Outstanding Director of a Play.[40] The play was nominated for the 2016 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play.[41]

A production was staged at London's Hampstead Theatre in June and July 2017.[42]

A production was staged at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater opening in February 2020 and closed early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A livestream of the show was made available for a limited time.[43][44]

Honors

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He received the Helen Merrill Award in Playwrighting, Emerging Playwright category, in 2011.[45]

He received the Paula Vogel Award from the Vineyard Theatre in 2011. The award is "presented annually to an emerging writer of exceptional promise." He was in residence at the Vineyard Theatre in 2011 because of the award.[35][46]

He was given the Steinberg Playwrights Award in 2015. Paige Evans, the artistic director of LCT3 said that his "plays are fiercely intelligent, ambitious, and boldly theatrical.... They challenge, entertain, and unsettle audiences, making us laugh, gasp, and think deeply about race, class, personal ambition, and other complex issues.”[47]

He received the Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Drama) at Yale University in 2016; the prize includes a cash amount of $150,000.[48][49] He received the 2016 PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, Emerging American Playwright.[50][51] In 2016, he also received a Creative Capital award with collaborating artist Carmelita Tropicana.[52]

He was named a MacArthur Fellow, Class of 2016. The fellowship comes with a monetary award of $625,000, made in installments over five years.[53] The foundation noted, in part: "Many of Jacobs-Jenkins’s plays use a historical lens to satirize and comment on modern culture, particularly the ways in which race and class are negotiated in both private and public settings."[54]

In 2018, Jacobs-Jenkins was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Everybody.[55]

In 2020, he was awarded USA Artists and John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships.[56]

Plays

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
2017 Critics’ Circle Theatre Award[57] Most Promising Playwright Gloria and An Octoroon Won
2024 Tony Awards Best Revival of a Play Appropriate Won

References

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  1. ^ a b c Witchel, Alex (November 23, 2014). "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Is, and Is Not, Writing About Race". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" Signature Theatre.com, accessed November 7, 2016
  3. ^ Gray, Margaret. "Spotlight shines brighter on 'Appropriate' playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2015
  4. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Signature's Resident Playwrights Group Welcomes Dramatists Martha Clarke and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins", Playbill, January 16, 2013
  5. ^ Healy, Patrick. "New Play Puts an Old Face on Race" The New York Times, February 2, 2010
  6. ^ Stasio, Marilyn. "New Play Puts an Old Face on Race" Variety, March 7, 2010
  7. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Neighbors' Will Open Mixed Blood Season" 'Playbill, August 1, 2011
  8. ^ Gans, Andrew. "59th Annual Obie Award Winners Announced; Sydney Lucas Is Youngest Winner in Obie History" Playbill, May 19, 2014
  9. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whose minstrelsy-filled play Neighbors made a highly publicized debut at the Public Theater last winter, has now taken over as director of his latest work The Octoroon: An Adaptation Of The Octoroon Based On The Octoroon, which has delayed previews to June 19 at PS 122." Playbill, June 14, 2010
  10. ^ Brantley, Ben. "Review: ‘An Octoroon,’ a Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Comedy About Race" The New York Times, February 27, 2015
  11. ^ Magaril, Jon. "Review. An Octoroon" curtainup.com, accessed March 1, 2016
  12. ^ "2017/18 Season" Archived 2017-11-23 at the Wayback Machine artistsrep.org
  13. ^ "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins". Princeton University. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  14. ^ " Appropriate Off-Broadway" lortel.org, accessed March 1, 2016
  15. ^ Billington, Michael. " Appropriate review – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins pushes everything to the limit" The Guardian, 23 August 2019
  16. ^ Grode, Eric (12 December 2023). "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Revisits His 'Illusion of Suffering' on Broadway". The New York Times.
  17. ^ "Appropriate". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  18. ^ Brantley, Ben. "'War,' Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s New Play" The New York Times, December 8, 2014
  19. ^ Clement, Olivia. "LCT Off-Broadway Season to Include Marco Ramirez' The Royale Plus Greg Pierce and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Plays" Playbill, September 21, 2015
  20. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ War Begins Tonight" Playbill, May 21, 2016
  21. ^ Stasio, Marilyn. "Off Broadway Review: War by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" Variety, June 6, 2016
  22. ^ Sokol, Fred. "Regional Reviews. War. Yale Repertory Theatre" talkinbroadway.com, December 1, 2014, accessed March 2, 2016
  23. ^ a b Sullivan, Lindsay. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Everybody Extends Before Opening Night Off-Broadway" broadway.com, February 13, 2017
  24. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ 'Everybody' Begins Jan. 31" Playbill, January 31, 2017
  25. ^ " Everybody Off-Broadway Production" lortel.org, retrieved February 14, 2017
  26. ^ Haun, Harry. "Why You Need to Know the Name Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins" Playbill, February 27, 2017
  27. ^ McPhee, Ryan. "Martyna Majok’s 'Cost of Living' Wins 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama" Playbill, April 16, 2018
  28. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Girls Will Be All-New Spin on The Bacchae—With Live DJ, Dance Music, and Video" Playbill, March 29, 2019
  29. ^ Girls yalerep.org, accessed August 23, 2019
  30. ^ "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins". Signature Theater. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  31. ^ "Staff & Board | Soho Rep". sohorep.org. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  32. ^ "Annie Baker and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Join Faculty of UT Austin" americantheatre.org, January 29, 2019
  33. ^ Tran, Diep (August 14, 2024). "Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Directed by Phylicia Rashad, Will Play Broadway". Playbill.
  34. ^ Gloria lortel.org, accessed March 1, 2016
  35. ^ a b Jones, Kenneth. "Vineyard Plans New-Play Readings and "Reunion" Presentations of Hits The Dying Gaul, Pterodactyls and More" Playbill, September 14, 2012.
  36. ^ Gloria vineyardtheatre.org, accessed April 18, 2016
  37. ^ "2016 Lucile Lortel Award Nominations Announced" Playbill, March 30, 2016
  38. ^ Viagas, Robert. "'Hamilton' Wins 2016 Pulitzer Prize; Miranda Reacts" Playbill, April 18, 2016
  39. ^ "Winners" pulitzer.org, accessed April 18, 2016
  40. ^ Viagas, Roibert. "2016 Outer Critics Circle Nominees Announced" Playbill, April 19, 2016
  41. ^ Gans, Andrew. "2016 Drama League Awards Nominations Announced" Playbill, April 20, 2016
  42. ^ Franklin, Marc J. "First Look at Hampstead Theatre's Production of Gloria " Playbill, June 19, 2017
  43. ^ "A.C.T. To Stream GLORIA and TONI STONE on BroadwayHD".
  44. ^ "A.C.T. Offering Ticket Holders—And New Patrons—Access to Recordings of Gloria and Toni Stone". 17 March 2020.
  45. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Playwrights Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dorothy Fortenberry, Dan LeFranc, Radha Blank and Lisa Kron are the recipients of the 2011 Helen Merrill Awards in Playwrighting" Playbill, September 28, 2011.
  46. ^ "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Wins 4th Annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award" stage-directions.com, accessed March 2, 2016.
  47. ^ "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dominique Morisseau Win 2015 Steinberg Playwright Awards" americantheatre.org September 22, 2015.
  48. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Named Windham-Campbell Prize Winner" Playbill, March 1, 2016
  49. ^ "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins". Windham–Campbell Literature Prize. February 29, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  50. ^ Maggie Galehouse (March 1, 2016). "PEN Literary Award winners announced". Chron. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  51. ^ "2016 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  52. ^ "Creative Capital - Investing in Artists who Shape the Future". creative-capital.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  53. ^ "Fellows Class of 2016" macfound.org, accessed September 22, 2016.
  54. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Among MacArthur “Genius” Grant Winners" Playbill, September 22, 2016.
  55. ^ "Pulitzer Prize Winners" The New York Times, April 16, 2018
  56. ^ "Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins" John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  57. ^ "2017 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". Critics' Circle Theatre Awards. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
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