Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Purpose to Have LA Premiere at Geffen Playhouse

Geffen Playhouse has announced five productions that will make up its 2026-27 season lineup, chosen by artistic director Tarell Alvin McCraney. The season, running November 11, 2026-July 4, 2027, will feature world, West Coast, and Los Angeles premieres.

The season will launch with the Los Angeles premiere of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Purpose (November 11-December 13), directed by Phylicia Rashad and featuring the original Broadway cast: Alana Arenas, Glenn Davis, Jon Michael Hill, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Harry Lennix, and Tony winner Kara Young.

The season will continue with the West Coast premiere of Bess Wohl’s Liberation (January 27, 2027-February 28, 2027), a multi-theater co-production with additional venues to be announced. The production is directed by Tony Award nominee Whitney White, who also directed the play’s Broadway run.

Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Monsters (March 3, 2027-April 4, 2027), a Los Angeles premiere, explores the complicated intimacy of sibling relationships when family can be both a sanctuary and a battlefield. Directed by Awoye Timpo, the cast will feature Anyanwu, with additional casting to be announced.

The world premiere of Grace McLeod’s new farce Closing Costs (March 31, 2027-May 2, 2027), directed by Hannah Wolf, is a send-up of the absurdity of trying to buy a home in Los Angeles, where the market is cutthroat, the wiring is questionable, and everyone is just one inspection away from disaster.

The season will conclude with Alice Childress’ Wine in the Wilderness (June 2, 2027-July 4, 2027), a play that interrogates class, colorism, gender, and the politics of representation, directed by LaChanze.