A Conversation with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis presents A Conversation with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Saturday, September 19!

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis will welcome two-time Tony Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to St. Louis this fall for a special public conversation during the Festival's 11th season. As part of the Festival, which runs September 17–27, 2026, Jacobs-Jenkins will present "A Conversation with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins" on Saturday, September 19, at 2:00 p.m. at the St.Louis County Library's Clark Family Branch.

Widely regarded as one of America's most important contemporary playwrights, Jacobs-Jenkins has emerged as a leading voice in modern theater. His acclaimed works include Purpose, Appropriate, The Comeuppance, Everybody, Gloria, An Octoroon, War, Girls, and Neighbors. He serves as Professor in the Practice of Theater and Performance Studies at Yale University and is Vice President of the Dramatists Guild Council. His many honors include two Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.

The conversation will be moderated by Bess Rowen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. Together, they will explore the profound influence Tennessee Williams has had on Jacobs-Jenkins' writing, why many critics consider him Williams' artistic heir, and how Appropriate embodies the spirit of the Southern Gothic tradition while speaking directly to contemporary audiences.