This fall, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins‘ Obie Award winning play, Appropriate (2014) will make its West Coast debut at the Center Theater Group’s Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. This play surrounding family issues and previously unearthed generational secrets premiered at the Signature Theatre in March of last year to rave reviews and an Obie win for Best New Play, along with An Octoroon.
THE STORY: Every estranged member of the Lafayette clan has descended upon the crumbling Arkansas homestead to settle the accounts of the newly-dead patriarch. As his three adult children sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk, they collide over clutter, debt, and a contentious family history. But after a disturbing discovery surfaces among their father’s possessions, the reunion takes a turn for the explosive, unleashing a series of crackling surprises and confrontations.
The Washington Post & The New York post had nothing but great things to say about the playwright and his work:
“…very fine, subversively original…[Jacobs-Jenkins] honors the time-tested recipes of those who have gone before him, combining them into a crafty narrative…But he also brings a culinary self-consciousness to the mix that makes you savor the ingredients anew, while pondering why they have dominated American theater for so long…APPROPRIATE is piercingly clear, with carefully drawn characters who speak in crisp and fluid dialogue. [Jacobs-Jenkins] enjoys his quarrelsome characters, and he has achieved the difficult feat of making them all both unlovable and impossible not to identify with…remarkable and devious.” —NY Times.
“…prodigiously gifted…[Branden Jacobs-Jenkins] effortlessly and believably taps into a white family’s dysfunction, infuses the script with unforced, viperish humor…APPROPRIATE is an uncommonly deft dramatic and technical achievement.” —Entertainment Weekly. “…an exceptionally brilliant piece of writing…gut-punchingly honest work.” —Time Out Chicago.. “…biliously funny…Jacobs-Jenkins [is] a witty provocateur and a dramatist on whom to keep your eye…What distinguishes [APPROPRIATE] is the playwright’s gift for drawing his characters into an escalating conflict and sustaining, with humor and craft, our curiosity about how they digest the terrible information thrown at them.” —Washington Post.
The production of his newest work, Gloria, which recently completed its debut at the Vineyard Theatre, was our introduction to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins here at Broadway Black. Now, Los Angeles will have the opportunity to experience the humor, wit, and artistry of this exciting playwright.
Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Eric Ting, will play at the Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, September 23- November 1. For tickets and more information, visit www.centertheatregroup.org
