The Steppenwolf Theatre production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “Purpose,” a play loosely based on the family of the late Chicago civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, is heading to London’s Royal Court Theatre in January, the Royal Court is announcing Wednesday.
This will mark the first time a Steppenwolf production will be seen at a British venue famed for its long history of producing new works for the stage — often edgy and ambitious plays, albeit these days often with stars attached. The Royal Court did previously produce several plays by the Chicago writer Rebecca Gilman, including “The Sweetest Swing in Baseball” in 2004 with the Chicago-trained actress Gillian Anderson in the lead role.
The last time a Steppenwolf show was seen in London was in 2008 at the National Theatre, with Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County.” Before that, it was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the Barbican Theatre in 2000.
The upcoming London transfer of “Purpose” comes with the cooperation of the Broadway producer David Stone and is being billed as the London transfer of the acclaimed Broadway production, which had a couple of cast members who did not appear in the 2024 Chicago premiere, directed by Phylicia Rashad.
Nonetheless, Steppenwolf co-artistic director Glenn Davis and ensemble members Alena Arenas and Jon Michael Hill will be traveling to the Royal Court with the show, likely a helpful reintroduction of the Steppenwolf and the Chicago theater brand to British audiences. The original creative team, mostly Chicago-based, will be going, too. The production, which also travels first to the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, is currently rehearsing in Chicago.
Other highlights of the Royal Court’s 2027 season include the world premiere of “The Apology” penned by V (formerly Eve Ensler) and directed by the veteran Complicité artistic director Simon McBurney, the world premiere of Ciara Elizabeth Smyth’s “The Briar Patch” starring Juliet Stevenson and directed by Royal Court artistic director David Byrne and Oscar winner Jessie Buckley in “Afterbirth” by Nina Legal, cheerfully billed as “a story about the disorienting reality of life after birth.”
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
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