Purpose Wins 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Finalists were Oh, Mary! by Cole Escola and The Ally by Itamar Moses.

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama has been regularly awarded since 1918 to recognize outstanding American playwriting. Recent winners include Eboni Booth for Primary Trust, Sanaz Toossi for English, and James Ijames for Fat Ham.

This is the first Pultizer for Jacobs-Jenkins, who was a finalist in 2016 and 2018 for his plays Gloria and Everybody. Purpose is an “explosive family drama” about the Jaspers, an influential Black American family whose members have been civil rights leaders, pastors, and congressmen. When the youngest son returns home with an uninvited guest in tow, the family is forced to reexamine itself and its legacy.

Nominated for six 2025 Tony Awards, including Best Play, Purpose is running at the Helen Hayes Theater after receiving its world premiere last year at Steppenwolf in Chicago.

Oh, Mary! is currently running at the Lyceum Theatre, and is the recipient of five Tony nominations, including Best Play. The Ally premiered at the Public Theater in 2024 and ran off-Broadway.