PRESS ROOM

See What’s Happening with TWStL for 2026

**Tony Award-Winning Playwright**
**Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Speak in St. Louis This Fall**

*Acclaimed Playwright and Author of Appropriate Headlines Special Tennessee Williams Festival Event*

ST. LOUIS (July 20, 2026) — The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (TWStL) 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.

The appearance coincides with the Festival's landmark production of Appropriate, Jacobs-Jenkins' Tony Award-winning drama and the Festival's headlining production. For the first time in its history, the Tennessee Williams Festival is expanding its artistic scope beyond works written by Tennessee Williams to explore what organizers call "The Tennessee Effect"—the enduring influence of Williams on generations of playwrights whose work continues to reflect his themes, style, and dramatic legacy.

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, with affiliate appointments in Gender & Women's Studies and Irish Studies. 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.

Set in a crumbling Arkansas plantation home, Appropriate examines a fractured family forced to confront long-buried secrets surrounding race, inheritance, and identity. The play echoes Williams' signature blend of emotionally charged family dynamics, complex characters, and moral ambiguity while presenting a distinctly modern perspective on America's unresolved history.

Rowen will also discuss Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer Prize-winning play Purpose, exploring how it reflects Williams' influence while reimagining themes of family, memory, and identity for a new generation. Their conversation will offer audiences a rare opportunity to hear one of today's most celebrated playwrights discuss the artistic legacy of one of America's greatest dramatists.

The Legacy of Tennessee Williams

Born Thomas Lanier Williams III in Mississippi in 1911, Tennessee Williams moved to St. Louis at the age of seven after his father accepted a position with the International Shoe Company. Williams spent more than two decades in St. Louis, attending Washington University, working at the shoe company, and writing and producing many of his earliest plays in local theaters. He often credited his years in St. Louis—both joyful and diƯicult—with shaping the poetic voice and emotional depth that would define his work. Reflecting on his relationship with the city later in life, Williams famously remarked, "I never really left."

His masterpieces—including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Suddenly Last Summer—earned multiple Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, and AcademyAwards and established him as one of the most influential playwrights in American history. Beyond these celebrated works, Williams wrote hundreds of plays, stories, essays, and poems, many of which continue to be rediscovered and performed today. By presenting Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and exploring The Tennessee Effect, the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis celebrates not only Williams' extraordinary legacy but also the living influence his work continues to have on contemporary theater.

Why St. Louis' Chicest Pool Party Matters More Than Ever

*Click the image to read this article by Grayling Holmes in Sophisticated Living!*

Previews: Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ APPROPRIATE Headlines the 11th Annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis

*Click the broadwayworld.com ticket icon to read about the exciting new season!*

Tennessee Williams Festival tries something new: a playwright who isn’t Tennessee Williams

Click the image to read STL Magazine’s Article by Sarah Fenske!

Media Kit

Tennessee Williams Biography | Download ↓

Tennessee Williams Festival Mission | Download ↓

Contact

For media inquiries, please contact Grayling Holmes at graylingis@gmail.com.

2019

STL LIVE TOPIC: Tennessee Williams Festival HOST: Staci Static SHOW DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 2019 Guest: Kari Ely - Director, "A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur" Guest: Nisi Sturgis - Actress, Hanna Jelks in 'Night of the Iguana' The Tennessee Williams Festival St.