Kara Young’s Groundbreaking Victory at the Tony Awards
There aren’t many nights on Broadway quite like this one: Kara Young stepped onto the Tony Awards stage and made history, yet she somehow made it look easy. For the second year running, she took home the award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, this time for her role as Aziza Houston in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ 'Purpose.' No Black actor had ever pulled off consecutive Tony wins like this before, and the electricity in the theater was impossible to miss.
The play that brought Young her record-setting moment is no ordinary script, either. 'Purpose' digs deep into the story of a Black Illinois family, descended from prominent civil rights leaders, all forced together by a snowstorm and wrestling with generational secrets. Directed by the celebrated Phylicia Rashad, the production is both intimate and epic, shining a spotlight on private heartbreaks and historic legacies in the same breath.
It wasn’t only Young’s night. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is no stranger to awards season, but taking home the Tony for Best Play put him in very rare company. He followed up last season’s win for 'Appropriate' with a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for 'Purpose'—a one-two punch that hasn’t been seen since August Wilson’s legendary run that included 'Fences' nearly four decades ago. Jacobs-Jenkins has become the first Black playwright to win Best Play at the Tonys since then, which felt like a seismic shift for both Broadway and American drama as a whole. With heavy hitters like LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Jon Michael Hill, and Harry Lennix trading lines on stage, 'Purpose' has been packing out the Hayes Theatre and extending shows well past the original closing date.
Theater, Legacy, and What Comes Next
Backstage at the Tonys, Young made it clear: her win isn’t just about her trophy shelf. In her passionate acceptance speech, she called on audiences and donors to keep local and regional theaters alive, arguing that the stories making waves on Broadway always start someplace smaller. Her belief in theater as a powerful force for unity and dialogue felt especially poignant, coming as it did during a show that puts Black family and history at its core.
This whirlwind year doesn’t mean Young is slowing down. She’s already lined up for another major project, starring with Kerry Washington in the much-anticipated 'The Whoopi Monologues,' set for 2026. With momentum like hers—and the growing buzz Williams and Jacobs-Jenkins are generating—it seems like we’re witnessing a genuine shift in whose stories and voices get center stage in America’s theater tradition.
'Purpose' will keep its run alive at the Hayes Theatre until at least August 31, and tickets are flying fast. Meanwhile, critics and fans alike are watching what Young and her collaborators do next, hoping it’s only the latest spark in a new era for Broadway diversity and storytelling.
