'An Octoroon' was written over about three years but premiered in 2014. I'm writing about America's relationship to its own history. Race or not, it's a story about suppression and oppression and many populations being devalued systematically. — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
Family dramas are tough, as a playwright. Most stories are about characters going on a trip or a new character coming to town, because that's how you learn information about them. But with family, they all know each other already.… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
One of the most incredible and important things about the theater is that we're creating a safe space for all feelings, but especially, ugly… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
At the end of the day, most people just want to be valued. They want to feel they have put their time to something… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
I'm not a really firm believer in theatre that is 'about anything.' I don't think theatre can be about anything other than the people… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
I tried writing a novel, but plays were the thing that kept feeding me, asking me to come back, sit down and be with… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
I feel like I'm put in a position where I have to engage with what people bring to my work, which is an expectation… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
I go through phases of watching a ton of dance/performance, and I am bizarrely well-informed on the subject. — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
You get better at the thing you do by having to explain it to someone else. That, I think, totally makes my work stronger. — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
Somehow, whenever we think about race or blackness in relationship to art, we always come in kind of nervous. We always think someone's about… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
My dream was always to have an experience where an audience member would turn to another audience member, a stranger, and be like, 'What… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
I seem to belong to a boom moment of playwrights, and I'm always curious about how we all got here and what comes next. — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
I actually don't read the press. All the writers I admire were significantly reclusive, and I'm still trying to figure out how they got… — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Copy Share Image
