Branden Jacobs-Jenkins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Jacobs-Jenkins in 2018
Born	(1984-12-29) December 29, 1984 (age 40) Washington, DC, U.S.
Occupation	Playwright
Education	Princeton University (BA) New York University (MA) Juilliard School (GrDip)
Notable awards	Obie Award Steinberg Playwright Award

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an American playwright, which means he writes plays for the theater. He is known for creating interesting and thought-provoking stories.

Two of his plays, Gloria and Everybody, were chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This is a very important award for plays in the United States. In 2023, his play Appropriate opened on Broadway, which is the highest level for theater in New York City. This play even won him a Tony Award, another major theater honor.

Some of his other well-known plays include An Octoroon and The Comeuppance. In 2016, he was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, an award given to talented individuals who show great originality and dedication in their work.

Early Life and Education

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

He went to Princeton University and graduated in 2006. He studied anthropology, which is the study of human societies and cultures. After that, he earned a master's degree from New York University in 2007, focusing on performance studies. He also studied playwriting at The Juilliard School, a famous performing arts school.

Jacobs-Jenkins has shared his knowledge by teaching playwriting at both New York University and Princeton. Before becoming a full-time playwright, he worked at The New Yorker magazine, where he wrote and edited reviews.

His Plays and Career Highlights

In 2013, Jacobs-Jenkins joined the Signature Theatre's "Residency Five" program. This special program helps playwrights by promising to produce three of their new plays.

His play Neighbors first showed Off-Broadway in New York City in 2010. It was also performed in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

Jacobs-Jenkins won the 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play. He received this award for two of his plays: Appropriate and An Octoroon. The Obie Awards celebrate excellence in Off-Broadway theater.

An Octoroon

An Octoroon is a modern version of a much older play called The Octoroon from the 1800s. It first played in New York in 2010. Later, it had successful runs Off-Off-Broadway and then at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn.

Appropriate

Appropriate was first produced Off-Broadway in 2014. It was nominated for several awards and won Obie Awards for its direction and acting. A theater critic named Michael Billington described it as a play that is both serious and funny. He said it makes you think deeply about family and society.

In December 2023, Appropriate made its big debut on Broadway. It was a huge success, winning three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play.

War

His play War first premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 2014. It later opened Off-Broadway in New York City in 2016. Jacobs-Jenkins wrote War while he was studying in Germany on a special scholarship.

Everybody

Everybody was produced Off-Broadway in 2017. This play is a modern take on a very old 15th-century play called Everyman. What makes Everybody unique is that the main role, "Everybody," is chosen by lottery each night from the cast. This means a different actor plays the lead role in every performance! Jacobs-Jenkins thought this was a "crazy idea," but it made the play very exciting. Everybody was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Gloria

Gloria premiered Off-Broadway in 2015. The story is about a group of ambitious assistants working at a famous magazine in New York City. The play was praised for its clever writing and how it changed from a funny story to a thrilling one.

Gloria was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer committee said it was a play "of wit and irony that deftly transports the audience from satire to thriller and back again." It also received nominations for other awards, like the Lucille Lortel Award.

Other Works and Teaching

His play Girls premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre in 2019. It's a modern version of an ancient Greek tragedy called The Bacchae. This play includes dance music and live video.

Jacobs-Jenkins' plays have been performed at many famous theaters in the United States and even in London, England. He also helps guide the Soho Rep in New York City as a board member.

In 2019, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin to teach playwriting. He also co-directed the playwriting program at Hunter College in New York City.

His play Purpose will move to Broadway in 2025 after a successful run in Chicago.

Awards and Honors

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has received many awards for his amazing work:

• In 2011, he received the Helen Merrill Award in Playwrighting and the Paula Vogel Award. The Paula Vogel Award is given to promising new writers.
• He was given the Steinberg Playwrights Award in 2015. The artistic director of LCT3 said his plays are "fiercely intelligent, ambitious, and boldly theatrical." She added that they make audiences "laugh, gasp, and think deeply about race, class, personal ambition, and other complex issues."
• In 2016, he received the Windham–Campbell Literature Prize from Yale University, which came with a large cash award. He also received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award.
• Also in 2016, he was named a MacArthur Fellow. This is a very prestigious award that comes with a significant amount of money to support his creative work. The foundation noted that his plays often use history to comment on modern culture, especially how race and class are handled in society.
• In 2018, his play Everybody was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• In 2020, he received fellowships from USA Artists and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

List of Plays

• Neighbors (Off-Broadway, 2010)
• War (Yale Repertory Theatre, 2014)
• Appropriate (Off-Broadway, 2014; Broadway, 2023)
• An Octoroon (Off-Broadway, 2014)
• Gloria (Off-Broadway, 2015)
• Everybody (Off-Broadway, 2017)
• Girls (Yale Repertory Theatre, 2019)
• The Comeuppance (Off-Broadway, 2023; London, 2024)
• Purpose (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 2024; Broadway, 2025)

Awards and Nominations