Fraught Family Drama Appropriate, Starring Sarah Paulson, Opens at the Belasco Theatre

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' ensemble play Appropriate begins performances at the Belasco Theatre on March 25 following an initial Broadway run at Second Stage's Hayes Theater, which ended on March 3. The family drama stars Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll, Michael Esper, Natalie Gold, Graham Campbell and Alyssa Emily Marvin, as well as Ella Beatty making her Broadway debut in the role played at the Hayes by Elle Fanning. The limited engagement runs through June 23.

Directed by Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate centers on the tumultuous reunion of the Lafayette family and the messy excavation of long-hidden secrets. The production features sets by the collective dots, costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Jane Cox and sound design by Will Pickens and Bray Poor. Neugebauer directs a similarly star-studded Uncle Vanya this season.

Appropriate premiered off-Broadway in 2014. In a wide-ranging conversation with Broadway.com, Jacobs-Jenkins, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist making his Broadway debut with Appropriate, espoused his belief that “Broadway audiences are the most radical audiences.” Read the full interview here.

It’s summer, the cicadas are singing, and the Lafayette family has returned to their late patriarch’s Arkansas home to deal with the remains of his estate. Toni (Paulson), the eldest daughter, hopes they’ll spend the weekend remembering and reconnecting over their beloved father. Bo (Stoll), her brother, wants to recoup some of the funds he spent caring for Dad at the end of his life. But things take a turn when their estranged brother, Franz (Esper), appears late one night, and mysterious objects are discovered among the clutter. Suddenly, long-hidden secrets and buried resentments can’t be contained, and the family is forced to face the ghosts of their past.