Interview: Glenn Davis on the Purpose of Purpose, as Steppenwolf a Play as It Gets

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose has arrived on Broadway to a raft of acclaim — but it began as a deeply personal commission for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

A sprawling, emotionally rich family drama that tackles legacy, politics, and identity, Purpose was meant to reflect the bold, ensemble-driven spirit of the company’s beloved hits like August: Osage County and The Grapes of Wrath, and it has succeeded beyond all measure.

At the center of it all is Glenn Davis, as both an actor in the production (he plays the ex-con ex-politico Solomon Jasper Jr.) and as co-artistic director of the theater, who helped shepherd the play from a 30-page draft to the highest-grossing show in Steppenwolf history.

Here, Davis reflects on the thrilling chaos of developing Purpose, the genius of working with Jacobs-Jenkins and director Phylicia Rashad, and what it means to carry the Steppenwolf legacy forward — from a Broadway stage.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Purpose is such a Steppenwolf play. Was that the goal?
Yeah. The initial thrust of getting Branden into the Steppenwolf fold was set on its course by Martha Lavey, who was our artistic director for about 20 years. She was almost solely responsible for our commissioning program being what it is today, and she started the conversation about commissioning Branden like 10 years ago. Once Anna Shapiro took over, she actually executed it, and it was commissioned to be an ensemble piece for myself, Alana Arenas, and Jon Michael Hill, who are both long-time members of the company.

It seemed like Branden wanted to write a big piece, in terms of stature, where its epic nature would be in the same vein as an August: Osage County, but would look very different in terms of the demographic and what it represents on stage. We did our first workshop in 2019, and he had about 30 pages, the beginnings of a play. I knew then that this would be something special. I’m not going to say I thought Broadway or that it would sell out performances at Steppenwolf; I just thought it would be a good experience for the actors and the Chicago community. We read it and we thought to ourselves, “If he can land the plane, it could be a huge success.”

Take me through realizing that it was, in fact, a success.
I was doing Downstate here in New York in 2022 and we did another workshop of Purpose. Branden had the same pages, but they were refined. We worked around his schedule and programmed it. We rehearsed with those pages for the first few weeks, and then Branden would bring in more. Each time he added a scene, we’d learn it on the fly. It was at once thrilling and the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Because in a few weeks, we’re going into tech. Performing in front of audiences.

It was trial by fire. In talking to other folks who’ve worked with Branden over the years, they had similar experiences. But everyone comes out on the other side and say it’s well worth it, because he is a genius. He wants to tailor the words to the person who’s saying them. He wants it to be bespoke to who you are as an actor. He knows what he wants his characters to be, but he wants to hear how the words come out of your mouth. It makes it a sublime experience, because it feels like you have a real ownership over the part.

We didn’t know where it was going until the night before our first audience. We were waiting for, essentially, the final 30 pages during our last day of tech. When we got them, we all sat on stage and there wasn’t a dry eye in the entire theater. I’ll never forget that moment, sitting on stage, in my costume, waiting to find out the end of this play that we programmed a year ago, seeing if it was going to make good on the promise of those initial pages.

We read it, and read it again, and it was beautiful. We canceled the performance the next night so we could stage it, and then we went on with pages in our hands for the first week, all of us wondering how we could do this for a paying audience. It was supremely vulnerable, but it was thrilling. It became the highest-grossing show in Steppenwolf history.

How did Phylicia Rashad come in as director?
Branden wanted a new voice, but he didn’t know who that was. He didn’t feel like any of his previous collaborators were right for this play. In thinking about what the play wants to represent to many generations of folks, I thought about Phylicia Rashad and her placement in the cultural zeitgeist. She read it 40 pages and came back a few days later and said “Talk me through where he wants to go. And I said “Well, I don’t know, but I trust him.”

I will say, Branden is gonna get a lot of credit for his genius as a writer, but Phylicia Rashad’s genius as a director is on full display in this play. She has created a topography with the actors. She’s helped create the circumstances and intensity and laughter. She’s in simpatico with Branden and has lifted the play even beyond all of our wildest dreams.

Tell me about the day-to-day of running Steppenwolf with you here in New York and Audrey Francis, your co-director, in Chicago?
Audrey and I have shared responsibilities, and then we have responsibilities that we spearhead. We don’t make decisions without one another, but I might be the point person on something, and she might be the point person on something else. Our biggest mandate is to be in collaboration with this amazing ensemble. In our time as artistic directors, we brought back Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry and Austin Pendleton. Amy Morton is coming to direct a play and be in a play. Next season, Bob Brewer and Gary Cole are coming back.

Earlier this season, there was one moment when I was in rehearsal for Purpose, Audrey was in Los Angeles at the Geffen doing our Noises Off, and we had Fool for Love going in Chicago. Historically, I don’t know if we’ve ever had three plays in three different markets at the same time, but it felt like a huge accomplishment for us as a duo.

It feels like we were making good on the initial promise of the theater. Those folks like Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney, Laurie Metcalf, John Malkovich, Joan Allen, Tom Erwin, they were just figuring it all out. One person was jumping in to direct, and then you directed the next play. The company was born in this idea that we’re all here to work in collaboration with one another. We’ve taken that philosophy that there is no one above the group. We’re all in it together.