The Helen Hayes opened in 1912 as the Little Theatre, designed by Ingalls & Hoffman for producer Winthrop Ames. Intimately sized with just 299 seats, it was later expanded to seat 597, though it remains the smallest Broadway theatre. In 1983, the theatre was renamed the Helen Hayes, a tribute to the actress and the original Helen Hayes Theatre that was demolished the year prior.
From the Tony Award-winning playwright of Appropriate and directed by the two-time Tony Award-winning Phylicia Rashad comes Purpose.
For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama from one of the country’s most celebrated voices.
| Helen Hayes Theater | 2018 |
| Helen Hayes Theatre | 1983 |
| Little Theatre | 1965 |
| Little Theatre | 1959 |
| Little Theatre | 1912 |
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