Kara Young is making Tony history with ‘Purlie Victorious’
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“I feel like plays allow us to see each other as human and even ourselves, our own human.”
This year Kara Young broke a Tonys record, becoming the first Black person to receive three consecutive nominations and only the sixth person ever to do so. “It feels special that the third [nomination] is historical, but more historical in the sense that it’s civil rights activist Ossie Davis’ words that are being activated and recognized.” Young’s nomination is for the play Purlie Victorious, a comedy written by Davis in 1961 and revived for Broadway this year with Young and Leslie Odom Jr. “This is 63 years since its last production on Broadway, and I feel like for this play to be recognized is so important.” Young says the script of Purlie Victorious is “such an American masterpiece of text” and that it was the diverse audiences that came to see the play that made it so special. “In the history of people being silenced, you are listening to a Black woman, a Black man, a Black cast, speak their truth, unapologetically speak Ossie Davis’ words. How magical is that?” For Young, it’s the power of plays that inspires her. “I feel like plays allow us to see each other as human.”
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
I’ve got a ton of questions, but I need to start with, how does it feel to be a Tony nominee again?
This particular nomination feels really important in the sense of the legacy of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee and their contribution into this America and their contribution into the American Theatre canon. I mean, Ossie Davis, this is 63-years since its last production on Broadway, and I feel like for this play to be recognized is so important. So, for me to even be acknowledged this time around feels more like an acknowledgement of them and their legacy.
Considering the weight of this legacy, how do you process the enormity of that?
I was absolutely nervous. And then there’s also a part of me that feels like this thing feels beyond me. And I have to just say, yes, I just have to surrender to not only opportunity, but this very magical moment.’ People have been saying that I remind them of Ruby Dee for so long. My aunt had sort of manifested this in a wild way, she put my picture up next to hers and there’s this uncanny sort of resemblance. We’re both Harlemites, she’s literally lived around the corner from where I live now. I mean, there’s just so much attached to our similarities. And there was a moment where I was like, ‘Okay, this seems like everybody else was working for this moment. And I got to just surrender to the fact that this is how the cards have been dealt.’ And what an amazing opportunity to just enter her world and through Ossie’s world. I’m still pinching myself. I can’t even believe it happened, to be honest with you.
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And if you’re being compared to Ruby Dee, your co-star, Leslie Odom Jr., can certainly be compared to Ossie Davis. What was it like doing this play with him?
Oh, my goodness, Leslie in a nutshell feels like he makes the impossible feel possible. He wears many hats. And we’re talking about a man who’s not only a family man but was our lead producer. He’s a husband, a father, an incredible actor, and a generous human being. I’m just happy that I’ve absorbed a little bit of Leslie Odom Jr. in that experience, because he taught me so much about what leadership is and what this thing could be like, what this career can be. I’m in awe of how much he was carrying, it’s as if his shoulders were weightless. He was carrying so much with so much grace. He’s a great example of just humaneness.
What about this play and this character did you respond to?
I think there’s so many things to respond to in the play, like in the text itself. And to be very honest with you, I didn’t really know of Purlie Victorious before this opportunity presented itself in the way that I wish I would have. But I also feel like it’s interesting that this play wasn’t actually known by many before this moment, too. I feel like it’s such a classic. It’s such an American masterpiece of text. And there’s so many, again, so many things to choose from, what the play is about. But ultimately, I feel like Ossie really set out to heal people. But what’s important is that we can’t forget our history. We can’t forget what happened. We can move together, we can heal together, but we cannot forget what happened. And there’s so much that’s happening today in the world, that’s a whole other conversation, but the fact that books are being burned, the fact that collectively it’s like, unfortunately, like the dark ages of ignorance. And this play is like, do not forget, but let’s move forward with hope and healing for humanity. And it’s about a preacher who comes back to his hometown to get what is rightfully his, which is a church that was in his family, and he brings back this young girl, Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, to act as the very recent dead ancestor who is owed this money and their inheritance, and he’s the next of kin to receive that. But in order for him to get back to church, he needs this money. So, it’s a big old comedy, and at the same time, it is really a story about a person who by any means necessary is trying to heal the world with the church for all mankind. And that’s what Purlie is after.
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You are the first Black person to receive three Tony nominations consecutively, and only the sixth person ever to do it. How does that achievement feel?
It might sound corny, but I just feel so fortunate that I’ve been able to be a part of art that is changing the world. So, for these acknowledgments every single year for those characters. Letitia in Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage and Jess in Cost of Living by Martyna Majok and for Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins to be acknowledged in Purlie Victorious by the legendary Ozzie Davis, directed by Kenny Leon, feels like these artists collectively are hoping to change the world. And for these women, these Black women, to be acknowledged every year feels bigger than me and I’m grateful. I’m grateful for the work to be acknowledged, but it couldn’t be possible without the writers, without the directors, without the theatre makers. I mean, you’re setting out to do something that seems like the impossible and make it possible for a story to be shared with the world. This is a little chunk of the world, which is Broadway, but Broadway needs more access to more seats for more people to see. And I feel like storytelling is the most ancient thing that we do. It’s a part of our ancestral home, all of us, theater is, and it’s something very special and something very special that happens every single night in a theatrical experience. It’s always different. I’m grateful, ultimately. I feel really special. And it feels special that the third [nomination] is historical, but more historical in the sense that it’s Ossie Davis’s words that are being activated and recognized.
But do you ever think about winning?
That’s an interesting question. Because I almost feel like I have. The acknowledgement alone feels so great. I guess for lack of a better word, it feels really special to be acknowledged at the end of the day, and the accolade, and the winning feels like how we build community in the theatrical experience, from rehearsal to performance, I feel like I win with the people who I’m building with. That feels like the thing that we really hold on to. These moments can be very fleeting, when it comes up to getting this and then this and the pictures and this and that. It’s all very quick.
There’s something about watching a Broadway play that is intimate and unique. How do you feel about that relationship you have with the audience?
It can’t be recreated. Like one night in the theater is a special night for all of those people. And I am a part of the LAByrinth Theater Company, and I believe it was Philip Seymour Hoffman who said like, ‘If there’s 99 seats in the theater, there are 99 different plays being watched.’ Because we all have our own eyes, right? So, it’s the most magical place. We’re living in a new world where isolation is the new language for how we’re communicating with ourselves and with other people too. And so, I feel like the beauty of the theatrical experience is that even in our own gaze, we are still collectively communing together. In the theatrical space, it is something that is actual magic, nowadays. Yeah. We are listening for maybe an hour and a half to two and a half hours to a story being told. We had such diverse audiences for Purlie Victorious, which was so special. In the history of people being silenced, you are listening to a Black woman, a Black man, a Black cast, speak their truth, unapologetically speak Ossie Davis’s his words. How magical is that?
Another aspect of it is the difference between musicals and plays. Musicals make the money, they bring the people, but plays are just so special. I have my own pitch for why people should see a play, but I’d like to hear yours. Why should people go to a play?
The playwrights that I’ve worked with, there’s always been this radical feeling of wanting to change the world. And they might not say it blatantly, but when we look at the commentary throughout history, through art, it’s in a direct response to what’s happening in the world. Whether that be a painter, any kind of artist, there is a direct response to the current events and the stasis of the world. A play allows us to escape ourselves and enter another world. I remember in Cost of Living there was a doctor who came to see it. And the doctor said, ‘I am a person who helps people to heal. But you heal me.’ And so, it made me think of like, ‘Why a play? That’s why. I feel like plays allow us to see each other as human and even ourselves, our own human.
About the writer
A writer/comedian based in Los Angeles. Host of the weekly podcast Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott, …
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