Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (born 1984) is an American playwright. His play Purpose won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for which his works Gloria and Everybody were finalists in 2016 and 2018, respectively. His play Appropriate marked his Broadway debut as a playwright in 2023 and earned him his first Tony Award; he won a second in 2025 for Purpose. His additional plays include An Octoroon and The Comeuppance. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016.
Early life Jacobs-Jenkins was born in Washington, DC, and raised in the Takoma neighborhood. His father, Benjamin Jenkins, is a retired prison dentist. He and his adopted siblings were raised by a single mother, Patricia Jacobs, who is a Harvard Law School alumna and business owner.
As a child, he attended the Roots Activity Learning Center and fell in love with reading black authors, including playwright August Wilson. He spent his summers in Arkansas, where his maternal grandmother and schoolteacher, Helen Jacobs, stimulated his creativity. At age 13, he made it to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, stumbling on the word "pinyin".
He was accepted to St. John's College High School in DC, and graduated in 2002.
For college, he went to Princeton, where he earned his bachelor's degree in anthropology in 2006. For graduate school, he attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and earned a master's degree in performance studies in 2007.
He has taught playwriting at Hunter College, New York University, Princeton, and Yale University.Prevost, Lisa (June 17, 2024). Yale playwright Jacobs-Jenkins wins first Tony for ‘Appropriate’ revival. Yale. He graduated from the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School."Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" Signature Theatre.com, accessed November 7, 2016
Jacobs-Jenkins worked at the New Yorker where he edited and wrote reviews.Gray, Margaret. "Spotlight shines brighter on 'Appropriate' playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2015
Career In 2013 Jacobs-Jenkins became a member of the Signature Theatre Residency Five program. The program "guarantees three full productions of new work."Jones, Kenneth. "Signature's Resident Playwrights Group Welcomes Dramatists Martha Clarke and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins", Playbill, January 16, 2013
Neighbors premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater/Public LAB in February - March 2010,Healy, Patrick. "New Play Puts an Old Face on Race" The New York Times, February 2, 2010Stasio, Marilyn. "New Play Puts an Old Face on Race" Variety, March 7, 2010 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.Hetrick, Adam. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Neighbors' Will Open Mixed Blood Season" Playbill, August 1, 2011 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.Gans, Andrew. "59th Annual Obie Award Winners Announced; Sydney Lucas Is Youngest Winner in Obie History" Playbill, May 19, 2014
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.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 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.Brantley, Ben. "Review: ‘An Octoroon,’ a Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Comedy About Race" The New York Times, February 27, 2015Magaril, Jon. "Review. An Octoroon" curtainup.com, accessed March 1, 2016 Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland, Oregon, staged An Octoroon from September 3 to October 1, 2017."2017/18 Season" artistsrep.org
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)." Appropriate Off-Broadway" lortel.org, accessed March 1, 2016 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."Billington, Michael. " Appropriate review – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins pushes everything to the limit" The Guardian, 23 August 2019 The play opened on Broadway at the Hayes Theater in December 2023. It won 3 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play, from 8 nominations.
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.Brantley, Ben. "'War,' Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s New Play" The New York Times, December 8, 2014 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.Clement, Olivia. "LCT Off-Broadway Season to Include Marco Ramirez' The Royale Plus Greg Pierce and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Plays" Playbill, September 21, 2015Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ War Begins Tonight" Playbill, May 21, 2016Stasio, Marilyn. "Off Broadway Review: War by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" Variety, June 6, 2016 He wrote War while on a Fulbright Fellowship in Germany.Sokol, Fred. "Regional Reviews. War. Yale Repertory Theatre" talkinbroadway.com, December 1, 2014, accessed March 2, 2016
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. 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.Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ 'Everybody' Begins Jan. 31" Playbill, January 31, 2017Sullivan, Lindsay. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Everybody Extends Before Opening Night Off-Broadway" broadway.com, February 13, 2017" Everybody Off-Broadway Production" lortel.org, retrieved February 14, 2017 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.”Haun, Harry. "Why You Need to Know the Name Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins" Playbill, February 27, 2017 Everybody was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.McPhee, Ryan. "Martyna Majok’s 'Cost of Living' Wins 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama" Playbill, April 16, 2018
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.Clement, Olivia. "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Girls Will Be All-New Spin on The Bacchae—With Live DJ, Dance Music, and Video" Playbill, March 29, 2019Girls yalerep.org, accessed August 23, 2019
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.
Jacobs-Jenkins currently serves on the board of Soho Rep in New York City.
In 2019, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin MFA playwriting program. At Texas, he worked with Annie Baker, who served as co-artistic directors for the MFA playwriting program at Hunter College of the City University of New York."Annie Baker and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Join Faculty of UT Austin" americantheatre.org, January 29, 2019
In 2021, he joined the Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences as a professor in the practice of Theater and Performance Studies.
In 2023, his play The Comeuppance, a story about a group of thirtysomethings who reunite at a cursed high-school reunion, opened Off-Broadway.The New Yorker (January 8, 2024). Profiles: The Playwright Has a Few More Changes. Published in the print edition of the January 15, 2024, issue, with the headline “Shamelessly Dramatic.” Retrieved June 9, 2025.
His play Purpose transferred to Broadway's Helen Hayes Theater beginning in February of 2025 after a critically acclaimed run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.
Gloria Gloria was produced Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre from June 15, 2015 to July 18, 2015 and was directed by Evan Cabnet.Gloria lortel.org, accessed March 1, 2016 The play received a workshop at the Vineyard Theatre in January 2013. The play concerns an "ambitious group of editorial assistants at a notorious Manhattan magazine."Gloria vineyardtheatre.org, accessed April 18, 2016 Gloria was nominated for the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Play."2016 Lucile Lortel Award Nominations Announced" Playbill, March 30, 2016 Gloria was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.Viagas, Robert. "'Hamilton' Wins 2016 Pulitzer Prize; Miranda Reacts" Playbill, April 18, 2016 The Pulitzer committee wrote: "A play of wit and irony that deftly transports the audience from satire to thriller and back again.""Winners" pulitzer.org, accessed April 18, 2016 Gloria received two nominations for the Outer Critics Circle Award: Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play; and Outstanding Director of a Play.Viagas, Roibert. "2016 Outer Critics Circle Nominees Announced" Playbill, April 19, 2016 The play was nominated for the 2016 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play.Gans, Andrew. "2016 Drama League Awards Nominations Announced" Playbill, April 20, 2016
A production was staged at London's Hampstead Theatre in June and July 2017.Franklin, Marc J. "First Look at Hampstead Theatre's Production of Gloria " Playbill, June 19, 2017
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.
Honors