“Purpose,” a new play from “Appropriate” playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins , will open on Broadway in the spring of 2025.

Phylicia Rashad will direct the production, which is scheduled to begin previews on Feb. 25, with the official opening night slated for mid-March. The play will be staged at the Helen Hayes Theater for a limited run.

Billed as an “epic family drama,” the story follows the influential Jaspers, who have been a pillar of Black American politics — civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen — for decades. But there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son, Nazareth, returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Casting will be announced in the coming months.

“Purpose” had its world premiere in March 2024 at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre and went on to become one of the highest-grossing productions in the venue’s nearly 50-year history. Chicago Tribune’s theater critic Chris Jones hailed the play as “absolutely not-to-be-missed,” writing that “Purpose” is “a brilliant moralistic satire, which sounds deadly but not with a writer who prizes agency, currency and, thank god, ambiguity.”

Jacob-Jenkins is the playwright behind last season's successful play “Appropriate,” a dark comedy about a family starring Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll, Natalie Gold, Elle Fanning, and Alyssa Emily Marvin. The play received eight Tony nominations and won three, including best revival of a play.

Rashad, a Tony Award winner for “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Skeleton Crew”, and Emmy nominee for “The Cosby Show,” is making her debut as a Broadway director with “Purpose.” She has directed plays like Stephen Adly Guirgis's “Our Lady of 121st Street,” Pearl Cleage's “Blues for an Alabama Sky”, and August Wilson's “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Producers on “Purpose” include David Stone, Debra Martin Chase, Marc Platt, LaChanze, Rashad Chambers, Aaron Glick, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The play will feature scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Dede M. Ayite, lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker, and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen.