Kara Erin Young is an American actress. Known for her dynamic roles on stage both on Broadway and off-Broadway, she has received various accolades, including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and an Obie Award. Having won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2024 and 2025, she is the first Black actress to be Tony-nominated in four consecutive years (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) in that category, and the first Black actress to win two consecutive Tonys.
Young studied at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts before making her stage debut in Patricia Ione Lloyd's play Pretty Hunger (2016) at the Public Theater. The following year, 2017, she joined the LAByrinth Theater Company. She gained acclaim for portraying Viola in the 2022 off-Broadway revival of William Shakespeare's romantic play Twelfth Night at the Classical Theatre of Harlem.
She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in two consecutive years for playing a naive former servant in the Ossie Davis satirical play Purlie Victorious (2024) and a pregnant lesbian in the Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play Purpose (2025). She was Tony-nominated for her roles as a sandwich maker in Lynn Nottage's play Clyde's (2022) and a caretaker in Martyna Majok's dramatic play Cost of Living (2023).
Early life and education Young was born and raised in Harlem in New York City. Both of her parents immigrated from Belize. Her father, Klay Young, began working in the Rainbow Room in 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 1992 as a server; he was later promoted to captain. (In 2022, Kara attended a special event there as a Tony Award nominee). Her mother worked in health administration at Bellevue Hospital.
Young had an interest in performing from the age of five, when she learned to mime in an afterschool program at the 92nd Street Y. She briefly went to Gettysburg College and the City College of New York before studying at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, where she graduated. She studied traditional theater in Thailand for a month in 2008.
Career Young joined the LAByrinth Theater Company in 2017. She has appeared off-Broadway in plays such as NSangou Njikam's Syncing Ink, Jonathan Payne's The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll'd, Stephen Adly Guirgis's Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven (a LAByrinth co-production), Jeff Augustin's The New Englanders, and C.A. Johnson's All the Natalie Portmans. A New York Times review of her starring role in All the Natalie Portmans said that Young "can fit what feels like a mountain of blood, heart, sinew and febrile emotional response into a frame that can't stretch past five feet". Young often plays characters much younger than herself, adolescents or even preadolescents, aided by her small size and wide-set eyes.
In November 2021, Young made her Broadway debut at the Hayes Theater playing a single mother, Letitia, in Lynn Nottage's play Clyde's. The Times called her performance "superb". At the 75th Tony Awards, she was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Clyde's.
In 2022, Young played a caregiver, Jess, in Martyna Majok's play Cost of Living at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway. At the 76th Tony Awards, she was again nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Cost of Living. In 2023 she portrayed Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins in the revival of the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious on Broadway, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2024. In 2025 she won the Best Featured Actress in a Play Tony Award for her work in Purpose, which made her the first black performer to win acting Tony Awards consecutively. Because she was previously nominated for that award, she was also the first black performer to get four consecutive Tony nominations.
In 2026, Young joined the cast of the Broadway revival of Proof as Claire, starring alongside Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle at the Booth Theatre. Young was cast as a last-minute replacement for Samira Wiley, who departed the production due to a medical condition. Young has stated that, due to the suddenness of her addition to the cast, she was only allowed five days of preparation prior to the beginning of technical rehearsals. Her performance was often cited as the strongest element of the show by critics.
Acting credits
Film Year Title Role Director NotesRef. 2018 Hair Wolf Cami Mariama Diallo Short film 2020 Chemical Hearts La Richard Tanne King of Knives Darla Jon Delgado 2021 After Yang Erin Kogonada Uncredited 2022 Master Sascha Mariama Dillo F^¢k 'Em R!ght B@¢k Yolanda Harris Doran Short film 2023 Blow Up My Life Charlie August Abigail Horton / Ryan Dickie 2024 We Strangers Mari Winters Anu Valia 2026 I Love Boosters Crying Black Mother Boots Riley Is God Is Racine the Rough One Aleshea Harris
Television Year Title Role NotesRef.2018 Random Acts of Flyness Janelle Episode: "They Got Some S**t That'll Blow Out Our Back" 2019 The Other Two VMA Announcer Episode: "Chase Performs at the VMAs" The Punisher Wendy 2 episodes 2020 Bite Size Halloween Billie Episode: "First Date" 2022 The Staircase Yasmine 2 episodes 2023 I'm a Virgo Jones 7 episodes 2024 Great Performances Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins Episode: "Purlie Victorious"
Theater YearTitleRoleVenueRef.2016Pretty HungerLeaThe Public TheaterIn the Event of My DeathKateIRT Theatre2017Syncing InkSweet TeaAlley TheatreThe Flea Theater2018The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll'dKarmaThe Duke on 42nd Street2019The New EnglandersEisaNew York City CenterHalfway Bitches Go Straight to HeavenLil Melba DiazLinda Gross Theatre2020All the Natalie PortmansKeyonnaSusan and Ronald Frankel Theater2021–2022Clyde'sLetitiaHayes Theater, Broadway2022Twelfth NightViolaClassical Theatre of HarlemCost of LivingJessSamuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway'2023–2024Purlie VictoriousLutiebell Gussie Mae JenkinsMusic Box Theater, Broadway2024The ApiaryZoraTony Kiser Theatre, Off-BroadwaySyncing InkSweet TeaVictoria Theater, Off-BroadwayTable 17JadaMCC Theater, Off-Broadway2025PurposeAzizaHayes Theater, BroadwayGruesome Playground InjuriesKayleenLucille Lortel Theatre, Off-Broadway2026Proof ClaireBooth Theatre, Broadway The Whoopi Monologues Performer Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Off-Broadway2027Mix and Master Todd Haimes Theatre, Broadway
Awards and nominations Organizations Year Category Work Result Actors' Equity Foundation 2022 Clarence Derwent AwardsClyde's Antonyo Awards 2019 Best Actor in a Play Off-Broadway All the Natalie Portmans 2022 Best Featured Actor in a Play (Broadway) Clyde's AUDELCO Awards 2020 Special Achievement Award Dorian Awards 2025 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Play Purpose Drama Desk Awards 2022 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Clyde's 2023 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play Cost of Living Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play Twelfth Night 2024 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play Purlie Victorious 2025 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play Purpose 2026 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play Gruesome Playground Injuries Drama League Awards 2024 Distinguished Performance Purlie Victorious 2025 Distinguished Performance Purpose / Table 17 2026 Distinguished Performance Gruesome Playground Injuries / Proof Innovative Theatre Awards 2017 Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role In the Event of My Death Lilly Awards 2022 Stacey Mindich Go Work in Theater Award Lucille Lortel Awards 2020 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play All the Natalie Portmans 2025 Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play Table 17 2026 Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play Gruesome Playground Injuries Obie Awards 2020 Performance Twelfth Night Outer Critics Circle Awards 2024 Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play Purlie Victorious 2025 Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play Purpose Tony Awards 2022 Best Featured Actress in a Play Clyde's 2023 Best Featured Actress in a Play Cost of Living 2024 Best Featured Actress in a Play Purlie Victorious 2025 Best Featured Actress in a Play Purpose
See also African-American Tony nominees and winners List of Tony Award records
Notes
References
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