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Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Quotes

Powerful Branden Jacobs-Jenkins for Daily Growth

About Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an acclaimed American playwright, known for his provocative and thought-provoking works that explore race, identity, and the human condition. Born on November 13, 1986, in Virginia, he was raised by his mother, a social worker, after his parents separated when he was young. His family later moved to New Jersey, where he spent most of his childhood. Jacobs-Jenkins' interest in theater began at an early age, inspired by the plays of Samuel Beckett and Eugene O'Neill. He attended Princeton University, where he studied comparative literature and creative writing. It was during this time that he wrote his first play, Neighbors (2010), which was produced off-Broadway in 2013. His breakthrough work, An Octoroon (2014), a satirical take on Dion Boucicault's 1859 melodrama The Octoroon, brought him widespread recognition. The play, which uses theatrical devices to examine issues of race and identity, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2015. In 2017, Jacobs-Jenkins' play Everybody (or the Absence and Presence of the Ground) won the Obie Award for Best New American Play. The work, which reimagines Greek mythology, was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His other notable works include Appropriate (2014), Gloria (2015), and Familiar (2018). Jacobs-Jenkins continues to push boundaries with his thought-provoking plays, challenging audiences and sparking important conversations about race, identity, and the human experience. His works have been produced on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theaters across the country.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The truth is a slippery thing."

This quote by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins suggests that truth, in its purest form, can be difficult to grasp or pin down due to various factors such as biases, perspectives, and the dynamic nature of reality. It implies that what we perceive as 'truth' may not always be absolute or unchanging but rather a fluid concept subject to interpretation and influence.

"Art can't save us from ourselves, but it might give us some clue as to who we are and why we do what we do."

This quote by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins suggests that art serves as a mirror reflecting our humanity, helping us understand our actions, motivations, and identity. While art itself cannot fundamentally change or save us from the challenges of existence, it offers valuable insights into human behavior and our collective psyche. In essence, art can enlighten us about ourselves, fostering self-awareness and empathy in a world that often needs both.

"I think the greatest challenge for artists today is not just how to make art in a post-modern world, but also how to live in one."

This quote by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins suggests that artists today face a unique set of challenges in both creating their work and navigating life itself within the context of post-modernism. Post-modernism, characterized by skepticism towards grand narratives, the rejection of absolute truths, and a blending of high and low culture, offers complexities that require artists to think critically about their craft and its role in society. They must not only produce art but also embody it in their daily lives, which can be challenging given the fragmented nature of post-modern society. Essentially, Jacobs-Jenkins is saying that being an artist in a post-modern world demands not just creative skill, but also the ability to navigate life's complexities and contradictions with authenticity and purpose.

"The act of naming things is always an act of power."

This quote by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins highlights the significance of language and naming in our society. By assigning names to objects, concepts, or identities, we exert control and influence over them. This process often reflects and reinforces power dynamics, as those who have the authority to name things also hold a certain level of cultural or social dominance. The quote suggests that careful consideration should be given to the words we use, as they can shape our perceptions and actions towards what we choose to name.

"We are all trying to find our own truths, and we can only do that by looking within ourselves."

This quote suggests that each individual is on a personal journey to understand their own beliefs, values, and self-truths. It emphasizes the importance of introspection - looking within oneself - as a means to discover one's authentic truths. In other words, it's about finding what resonates deeply with us as individuals, rather than relying solely on external sources or societal norms. This self-discovery is essential for personal growth and understanding one's unique identity in the world.

All my plays have these titles that are oddly tricky. I like that something can look like one thing but mean two different things. Language is really unstable in that way.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Like, One Thing, Plays, Unstable

The first theater subscription I ever bought was the August Wilson season at Signature. I remember thinking a whole season to one playwright was a great way for a master to do a victory lap.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

August, I Remember, Subscription

I go through phases of watching a ton of dance/performance, and I am bizarrely well-informed on the subject.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

I Am, Through, Ton, Well-Informed

'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

Own, Race, Over, Devalued

Something that happens to me is that I'll write a play specifically from my own experience, and then I'll inevitably be told that I'm being tunnel-visioned about it. People always ask, 'What about that other race? Or discrimination toward those people?'

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Play, Own, Other, Specifically

Theater is an old thing. It's thousands of years old. TV isn't. Film isn't. We're doing a really old thing.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Doing, Old, TV, Thousands Of Years

I was 23 when I wrote 'Neighbors,' and I definitely look back at it now and cringe a little bit. I was trying to understand what drama was.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Understand, Back, Wrote, Cringe

Things just kind of stick with me, and writing, for me, is always an investigation into my own feelings about them. I wonder why things stick to me, and I try to synthesize those into a dramatic experience in some ways.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Own, Some, About, I Wonder

I have this thing called hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies. It's incredibly rare.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Rare, Incredibly, Hereditary, Liability

I wrestle in a big way with August Wilson's work in that I at times admire it and at times feel infuriated by it, which is weirdly more influential than loving someone entirely.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Big, Which, Weirdly, Wilson

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. There's years of history in every interaction.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Other, Years, About, Dramas

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

Next, Here, Always, Playwrights

I love television, and my love for it has made me curious about writing it. It feels like television's moving toward something more novelistic, and that's what I started wanting to do. But I can't say that I'm dying to get notes from a studio. The artistic control that you get as a playwright is worth its weight in gold.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Love, Studio, Feels, Playwright

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 for me to talk about race because it's not normal for a black writer to be writing in the theatre.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Feel, Bring, About, Engage

I spent summers with my mother's parents in Arkansas, where religion felt very present. My grandmother was Baptist, and my grandfather was Methodist. Double Southern whammy.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Southern, Very, Summers, Methodist

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 to a place where they didn't have to talk to press.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Still, Figure, Read, Reclusive

I have a borderline-embarrassing obsession with pop music.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Music, Obsession, Pop, Pop Music

The stuff I write about doesn't, like, necessarily leave people feeling warm and fuzzy. I'm writing in a territory that's, like, contested and full of prickliness. And I find that people project their problems onto me or something.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Project, I Write, About, Territory

How do we refresh our language? Why do we still use, like, a 150-year-old classification system to talk about people? It's so weird! We still call people black and white?

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Like, Still, Use, Refresh

'A Streetcar Named Desire' is the play I've probably read the most times in my life, and I love the weirdness of all the scene outs but especially the end of the second scene, when Williams brings a tamale vendor on stage to simply say, 'Red hot!'

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Love, My Life, Play, Williams

My dream was always to have an experience where an audience member would turn to another audience member, a stranger, and be like, 'What did we just go through?' And, like, kind of begin to talk.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Audience, Through, Always, Audience Member

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 to be punished or accused of something.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Art, Think, Always, Punished

My mother had a wall of degrees in our house, and she would walk me up to the wall and say, 'When you have this many degrees, you can tell me what to do.'

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Say, Tell, Had, Wall

I tried writing a novel, but plays were the thing that kept feeding me, asking me to come back, sit down and be with them.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Asking, Back, Plays, Feeding

I identify as queer. I just don't know what any of these labels mean.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Mean, Queer, Identify, Labels

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 who show up and the value that they hold.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Think, Other, Firm Believer, Believer

I don't hate people who colour-blind cast, but I hate people who colour-blind cast and pretend that they're not, who pretend that these bodies on stage don't actually carry specific meaning.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

People, Pretend, Bodies, Specific

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 feelings.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Ugly, Incredible, About, Important Things

At the end of the day, most people just want to be valued. They want to feel they have put their time to something that will seem to have been of value when they die.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Die, Will, Been, Valued

All of my work is sort of fed by a question, a need to understand the world and why the world is what it is.

- Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

World, Question, Need, Fed

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