“Purpose,” directed by Howard University’s own Phylicia Rashad, is nominated for “Outstanding Broadway Play” at this year’s 78th Tony Awards. The family drama, written by Tony Award-winning playwright and producer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, explores themes around “faith, politics, and the legacy of Black radicalism.” 

Delving into what the official website for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize–winning play describes as an “intimate and intriguing behind-the-scenes look at the influential Jasper family,” “Purpose” examines the “cracks beneath the surface” present within all family dynamics. When the son of this family returns home with a surprise guest, the Jaspers must examine themselves and what they truly believe in. 

Rashad has depicted the intricacies and complexities of the Black family and community throughout her career, and she continues in this tradition with “Purpose.” 

“The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves not only reflect our experience but have the power to shape experiences to come,” said Nikkole Salter, MFA, chair of the Department of Theatre Arts within the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. “The artists who invent, interpret, and deliver those stories to us on stage and screen do humanity a great service in that they help us remember as well as imagine who we can become.”

“Dean Phylicia Rashad is such an artist dedicated to truth, excellence, leadership, and service whose cultural contributions span decades of American life,” Salter continued. “It’s safe to say her performances and direction have influenced how the world sees African America, and how African America sees itself. It is no surprise that her work as director of Brandon Jacob Jenkins’ ‘Purpose’ on Broadway continues to make that contribution, offering insights into the aftermath of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements.”

Rashad, the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for “Best Actress in a Play” for the revival of “A Raisin in the Sun” in 2004, was also awarded “Best Featured Actress in a Play” for 2022’s “Skeleton Crew.” After making her Broadway debut in Melvin Van Peebles’ 1971 production of “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death,” Rashad would star in many Broadway productions over the next three decades, including “Dreamgirls,” “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and “August: Osage County.” In addition, Rashad’s director credits are many and diverse — including the likes of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” and Joe Turner’s “Come and Gone” (for which Rashad won the 2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director). 

“Purpose” marks Rashad’s Broadway directorial debut. In an interview with Broadway.com, Rashad said the opportunity to direct this play was an invitation that she had to accept. Moved by the writing of Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashad went on to praise his ability to “write the familiar in the most unfamiliar way — it’s beautiful and it’s complex, and yet it’s so simple,” she said, noting that life is the same, which “makes the best theatre.”

Evident in the art she chooses to make and her work as an educator and mentor, Rashad, dean emeritus of the Boseman College of Fine Arts, has proven her dedication to elevating culture and teaching the next generation of artists to use their craft to inspire, uplift, encourage reflection, and create change. 

“Dean Rashad’s trajectory of culture-building began at Howard University, and she has surely carried forth the mission to drive change and solve humanity’s problems through the study and practice of the theatre arts,” said Salter. “We congratulate her and her team on this brave new work that seeks to help us all see ourselves more clearly.”

There’s still time to see the cast (including Latanya Richardson Jackson, Harry Lennix, Jon Micheal Hill, Glenn Davis, Alana Arenas, Kara Young, Sojourner Brown, and Chris Myers) directed by Rashad “make the best theatre” by bringing Jacobs-Jenkins’s “Purpose” to life. The play has extended its run through August 31, and tickets can be purchased at purposeonbroadway.com.