Purpose

Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney 2 February - 22 March 2026

The review

Nazareth “Naz” Jasper (Tinashe Mangwana @tinashemangwana) is coming to his family home in Chicago, driven all the way from Niagara Falls by his friend Aziza (Sisi Stringer @sisistringer) just as a dangerous snowstorm hits. So the mother of the family convinces Aziza to stay.

Naz is not a frequent visitor, and the trip is made quite reluctantly.

He is the older son of a civil rights activist legend, Solomon Jasper (Markus Hamilton), the patriarch of the Jaspers of Chicago family, which owns a spacious mansion that has been remarkably recreated here. Solomon has left an indelible mark on American history as a lionheart of the Civil Rights movement; he is an indisputable authority in his community, inspiring and influencing people for decades.

The stage design is rich, detailed, atmospheric.  Heavy furniture, carpet, decorated walls, portraits on the walls, wooden stairs to the upper rooms, the real food, and a crowded table with tasteful decorations. And a huge window through which one can watch a never-ending falling snow. Elaborate lighting, with tens of beamlines changing luminosity, shapes the mood, wonderfully containing the unity of the massive space.

The story is framed by long narratives of Naz, who is stitching pieces of the story, staying aside from it, but merging in, to act the parts he was pre-portraying. Naz is a homie-looking mid-twenties man, wearing comfortable trousers and an overstretched knitted cardigan. He has found his vocation in solo life on lakes somewhere in the North of the States, working as a freelance nature photographer. Not a fan of socialising, not a seeker for relationships, he is happy to have one close friend, Aziza. 

It is a wonderful play, built on dissecting the internals of a family, a family carrying a weight of social legacy, a family of a big political player, and with that, a family of five, each of whose, including the ruling patriarch, are complex, uneasy personalities. The questions of social responsibility are intertwined with a personal search for purpose. Wrong and right are assessed in a social context, but also just gently touching, in terms of the divine.

Vast stage space, a massive set-up which at first feels impossible to fill up, yet feels suffocating at times, when the family’s tight, unresolved, suppressed dramas bubble to the surface. Well presented, composed family at first glance, they are a mess underneath. Even the strongest, controlling, well-presented matriarch, the mother (Deni Gordon) losing her face. The younger son (Marvel Meredith @mauricemarvel) goes from a playboy type to a childish, broken ruin. His wife (Grace Bentley-Tsibuah), a bitter - for a reason, bubbling with rage - for a reason too, softens up only under an unexpected whiplash of circumstances. Revelation of each character is loud and heavy, a harsh eye-opener for Aziza,whitnessing dethroning of her idol, whom she never dreamed to see, having no hints from Naz whos family he belongs.

It is often an over-emotional work, well mixing seriousness with a bold, nearly grotesque comedy. It is heavy on intense, thick, sticky, difficult conversations.

Desperation in a search for a purpose is something humans have been struggling with throughout their entire history, and power-holding families are not immune to it.

Naz is right in his choice. His solitude and inner purity modestly spark with that very divinity everyone around him is looking for. Though all are blind to notice it being consumed by a burden of ego and layered social responsibilities. 

This show is created and performed by artists from the Black diaspora. This is a big top-quality show on the big stage in Australia, which is a remarkable win for an excellent director, Zindzi Okenyo @z.okenyo.

Read here:  

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jan/30/zindzi-okenyo-interview-african-black-theatre-australia

Creative team

Writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins @brandenjacobsjenkins

Director Zindzi Okenyo @z.okenyo 

Designer Jeremy Allen

Lighting Designer Kelsey Lee

Composer & Sound Designer James Peter Brown

Fight Director Diego Retamales

Dialect Coach Rachel Finley

Voice & Text Director Charmian Gradwell

Production Manager  Alexandra Moon 

Production Coordinator Marie Landy

Stage Manager  Zoe Davis 

Assistant Stage Manager  Maddie Craven 

Costume Coordinator  Scott Fisher 

Hair, Wig & Make-up Supervisor  Lauren A. Proietti 

Backstage Wardrobe Supervisor  Simone Edwards 

Drafting  Dallas Winspear 

Lighting Supervisor  Jesse Greig 

Lighting Operator  Oscar de Gruchy 

Props Supervisor  Jason Lowe

Set Construction Supervisor  Boaz Shemesh   

Scenic Art Supervisor  Ron Theissen 

Sound Supervisor  Peter Hunt 

Staging Supervisor David Tongs 

Mechanist  Oscar Broadhead 

Rehearsal Photographer Daniel Boud 

Script Assistant Zahara Jithoo

Community Engagement Consultancy Wanyika Mshila

Photo: Prudence Upton

Cast

Grace Bentley-Tsibuah, Deni Gordon, Markus Hamilton, Tinashe Mangwana @tinashemangwana, Maurice Marvel Meredith @mauricemarvel, Sisi Stringer @sisistringer