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Appropriate
Every estranged member of the Lafayette clan has descended upon the crumbling Arkansas homestead to settle the accounts of the newly-dead patriarch. As his three adult children sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk, they collide over clutter, debt, and a contentious family history. But after a disturbing discovery surfaces among their father's possessions, the reunion takes a turn for the explosive, unleashing a series of crackling surprises and confrontations.
Winner of the 2014–2015 Obie Award for Best New American Play.
Winner of the 2014–2015 Obie Award for Best New American Play.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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1821 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
December 24, 2023
Rating raised from a 3 to a 4.
New review, 12/23: Although I first read this 5 years ago, I wanted to revisit it, as it just opened on Broadway to rave reviews (and has already been extended), the first of this black playwright's works to make it to the 'Great White Way' (so to speak!). Although this seems to owe debts to many other similar works (most notably August: Osage County and even more so to Buried Child), it is really its own peculiar animal, and I wish I could get to NY to see its current incarnation with Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll and Elle Fanning. Apparently it has been substantially rewritten since this original script, so perhaps the flaws I first noted have now been done away with.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/th...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news...
Original review, 4/18: An intriguing play, as it presents the foibles of a Southern white family confronting their underlying inherent racism, as dissected by a black playwright - but I found the tonal shifts, from cornpone comedy to mordant melodrama, a bit disconcerting. Also, there are long stretches of the play in which characters essentially scream at each other non-stop, which I think would get wearisome quickly. Finally, the end scenes would seem to be next to impossible to stage as written, unless a theatre company was spending their entire yearly budget on special effects for a single show.
New review, 12/23: Although I first read this 5 years ago, I wanted to revisit it, as it just opened on Broadway to rave reviews (and has already been extended), the first of this black playwright's works to make it to the 'Great White Way' (so to speak!). Although this seems to owe debts to many other similar works (most notably August: Osage County and even more so to Buried Child), it is really its own peculiar animal, and I wish I could get to NY to see its current incarnation with Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll and Elle Fanning. Apparently it has been substantially rewritten since this original script, so perhaps the flaws I first noted have now been done away with.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/th...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news...
Original review, 4/18: An intriguing play, as it presents the foibles of a Southern white family confronting their underlying inherent racism, as dissected by a black playwright - but I found the tonal shifts, from cornpone comedy to mordant melodrama, a bit disconcerting. Also, there are long stretches of the play in which characters essentially scream at each other non-stop, which I think would get wearisome quickly. Finally, the end scenes would seem to be next to impossible to stage as written, unless a theatre company was spending their entire yearly budget on special effects for a single show.
Want to read
April 11, 2021I got to see this play performed by the STC yesterday and it is amazing.
Incredibly powerful writing - brought brilliantly to life by the amazing production.
I cannot wait to read this at some point. I have to squeeze it in somewhere. I so want to digest these words with my own eyes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLnmfX2pvbd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CM1Hc-RrGdz/
Incredibly powerful writing - brought brilliantly to life by the amazing production.
I cannot wait to read this at some point. I have to squeeze it in somewhere. I so want to digest these words with my own eyes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLnmfX2pvbd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CM1Hc-RrGdz/
May 9, 2024
just incredible, such a feat to have every single character be simultaneously despicable and sympathetic. would sell 14 of my organs to see this live. can’t believe that u could write this and then write everybody afterwards.
January 12, 2024
You know what kinda writer you gotta be to make me cry at a vicious bitch’s 11 o’clock monologue?
June 13, 2024
I absolutely loved this play. Each character was so perfectly drawn, flaws and all, and the plot was so energetic the play moved so quickly. But I still found myself marinading in the grief, guilt, embarrassment, complicated love each of the characters were exhibiting. Reading this was very cathartic in a way, especially in a climatic moment toward the end. I wish I could see this on Broadway right now, so good.
November 17, 2017
Brandon Jacob-Jenkins is a powerhouse modern playwright. Appropriate was powerful, emotional, current, and smart. BJJ is a playwright to keep your eyes on and someone I will voraciously read over and over.
April 17, 2025
Now I really wish I could have seen this play. Damn.
It reads really well. It's so easy to picture, and it's such a great, semi-universal premise. At some point, many of us find ourselves going through the belongings of our lost loved ones. It's often overwhelming. Sometimes, it's cathartic. Always we hope it goes better than it does in this play, and always we hope we don't find something that calls into question our memory/image of the lost person (at least if that memory or image is a good one).
This is tense. It's chaotic. The staging at the end sounds brilliant. It's a really, REALLY good play.
It reads really well. It's so easy to picture, and it's such a great, semi-universal premise. At some point, many of us find ourselves going through the belongings of our lost loved ones. It's often overwhelming. Sometimes, it's cathartic. Always we hope it goes better than it does in this play, and always we hope we don't find something that calls into question our memory/image of the lost person (at least if that memory or image is a good one).
This is tense. It's chaotic. The staging at the end sounds brilliant. It's a really, REALLY good play.
March 29, 2025
Brilliant. Fascinating. Toni is a helluva character. River is beautiful. I loved it.
December 13, 2024
Theatre kid unlocked
December 28, 2021
4.5 stars
June 23, 2022
The cicadas get me every time. Such a beautiful, real work. Feels like a modern “Our Town.”
June 1, 2024
This is what happens when family gets together and secrets arise!
March 15, 2025
I feel like this deserves a 4.5, but I enjoyed reading it so much that I’m rounding up.
This is such a good character study of how white people contort our own narratives to assuage our guilt in order to continue benefiting from white privilege. The fact that the most redeeming member of the core family is someone who explicitly committed statutory really says something about this crop of characters. I have a feeling this one will stick with me for a while.
I would love to see this performed, because I do fear the numbers of monologues could bog down the show, and I’d like to see how a good director works around the huge chunks of text.
This is such a good character study of how white people contort our own narratives to assuage our guilt in order to continue benefiting from white privilege. The fact that the most redeeming member of the core family is someone who explicitly committed statutory really says something about this crop of characters. I have a feeling this one will stick with me for a while.
I would love to see this performed, because I do fear the numbers of monologues could bog down the show, and I’d like to see how a good director works around the huge chunks of text.
September 26, 2025
I saw this play at an off broadway or Broadway theater and it was a well-written play that made me feel the feels. I was off-put by the all white cast but it made sense going through the play. I very much appreciated the historian background of BJJ (Branden Jacob-Jenkins) coming through in the dramaturgical elements of the play
August 13, 2024
A funny, stressful play about a white family tearing itself apart trying to decide whether to completely deny, or profit handsomely from, its vile racist past!
A reminder of the wonderful utility of fiction, and how it enables us to explore imaginary scenarios that have surely never happened before!
A reminder of the wonderful utility of fiction, and how it enables us to explore imaginary scenarios that have surely never happened before!
January 5, 2024
had to watch fun tiktoks after reading this because I was so shook.
BJJ writes such great dialogue - so much is shared about character, history, tensions - a great study.
BJJ writes such great dialogue - so much is shared about character, history, tensions - a great study.
May 2, 2024
Second act of this is especially remarkable, and the stage directions are particularly well-written (that epilogue!). Will definitely be keeping an eye on Jacobs-Jenkins’ other work in the future
June 19, 2024
This was really quite excellent, and I'll be chewing on it for a little while. I found the metaphor of the cicadas to be really interesting, and I'm curious how that would translate on stage.
September 24, 2024
The best play I've ever read. Jaw dropping, seriously. I had goosebumps throughout reading. Can't wait to discuss this in my class and write my paper on it.
November 21, 2024
4.5 Stars
December 17, 2024
This is my first time reading a play.
Wow, I was wrapped into every element of this play.
I hope to see this live one day.
Wow, I was wrapped into every element of this play.
I hope to see this live one day.
February 12, 2025
ohhhhh i need to see this ASAP
April 23, 2024
Kind of brilliant. Branden jacobs-jenkins I respect your game immensely
September 16, 2024
wondering when i’ll log a novel
October 2, 2024
Read for an audition. Shit is fucked!!!!
Update got the part :)
Update got the part :)
July 3, 2018
Three adult siblings - Toni, Bo, and Franz - each bring their families and emotional baggage to their deceased father's estate sale. Their daddy owned a Southern plantation - complete with all the history that brings. When the siblings discover a collection of lynching photographs, they are forced to confront the idea that they may never have known the man who raised them. By extension, they may not know or understand one another.
The play itself is very atmospheric. Theatrical designers could have fun with this. A strong scenic designer could do a lot with the faded and cluttered grandeur of this haunted place. Cicadas dominate the soundscape. There are strong lighting directions.
At the end of the day, however, the characters felt so hopeless to me. And I don't mean they seemed incapable of redemption - just that they, as characters, were without hope. Their decay, like that of the house, seems unnecessary. They could repair all of it: the house, their relationships with one another, their interactions with their other relatives/loved ones. If only they would stop digging at one another. That's probably the tragic intent of the piece but, damn, it's very much a downer.
Beautiful.
But a downer.
~Jenny
Place for the Stolen
The play itself is very atmospheric. Theatrical designers could have fun with this. A strong scenic designer could do a lot with the faded and cluttered grandeur of this haunted place. Cicadas dominate the soundscape. There are strong lighting directions.
At the end of the day, however, the characters felt so hopeless to me. And I don't mean they seemed incapable of redemption - just that they, as characters, were without hope. Their decay, like that of the house, seems unnecessary. They could repair all of it: the house, their relationships with one another, their interactions with their other relatives/loved ones. If only they would stop digging at one another. That's probably the tragic intent of the piece but, damn, it's very much a downer.
Beautiful.
But a downer.
~Jenny
Place for the Stolen
November 4, 2017
This was twisting and twisted, but really gives you a lot to ponder, especially the various meanings of the title.
May 12, 2024
soooo good sooooooo good. disturbing as hell, unbelievably well-written.
December 31, 2024
my most said phrase while reading this: “what the fuck” because what the fuck,, i was laughing at how stupid and absurd these people were being, but gasping like i hadn’t breathed in years at all of these INSANE developments, this is a properly fucked up family, absolute mess,, i hated everyone, i would try and figure out which characters were actually decent and it turns out none of them were!! they all suck,, toni has the most annoying victim complex, like she couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong because she had to do soooo much, poor her, like SHUT. UP. you’re not better than everyone and your life isn’t unbearably difficult, AAAAND your dad was fucking piece of shit, news flash!! white supremacists like white people, so he could have easily loved you and brutally murdered black people, welcome to america, she called him ‘daddy’ so what did we expect,, honestly though, all of them were throwing their own pity parties, bo was like ahhh i have no money, i’m having a hard time with the finances here aaaand i’m broke, probably gonna lose my job, ugh everyone is so mean just because i’m a white man, everything is so hard,, rachael wasn’t as bad at the siblings, but she was still being a bit much,, franz or frank or whatever was like but guyyys i’m different, look at how i’ve changed, and BRINGS HIS 23 YEAR OLD PREGNANT FIANCÉ HOME LIKE HE ISN’T REPEATING HISTORY, this bitch needed to stop his whining and go to jail,, cassidy and rhys had the weirdest fucking relationship, i’m definitely convinced they’re gonna date when they’re older, they’re both sick fucks who liked?? the lynching pictures, like excuse me???? they’re all terrible,, river was totally culturally appropriating native america culture, i cannot, she was trying to be all wise and at peace, but she was just naive and annoying, she was an idiot, toni was right that river was trying to fix franz/k and that he can’t be fixed, river needed to stop with her savior complex and live a regular life, abort that shit in your stomach and date some regular people,, no one ever confronted racism in any capacity, there was just a bunch of excuses and brushing things off, LAME,, still not sure what to make of the ending, like bo is crying, and then we get all these stage directions describing the house falling apart over the years (with possible ghost interference), and then blackout and cicadas, just like the opening, huh??? like nothing changed, is that what it means, same rebirth of this gross ideology, decades after decades? anyway, phenomenal writing, perfectly written whites, like they were so dumb and aggravating, just so cleverly put together, i enjoyed this, so many emotions!! such a talented writer!! kinda wish the ghosts (that are definitely there, i mean c’mon) had killed then all, but whatever
RACHAEL. Didn’t you see them at the funeral? After, all Cassie could talk about was Rhys, Rhys, Rhys—went around posting these photos of the two of them together on Facebook and we were like, “Honey, please don’t do that. There’s a casket in the background.”
BO. So let’s keep an eye on the two of them, okay? I know we’re in Arkansas and everything—
[THIS WAS SO FUNNY, first the ‘casket in the background’ and then bo knowing they’re in incest territory, god, hilarious]
RACHAEL. You can’t blame people for the age they were raised. And do I expect you guys to totally…be able to grasp this? No, because you’ve never been discriminated against, but that’s how it is.
[ok miss ma’am, you’re white too though, chill]
CASSIDY. Is it naked pictures or something? I’ve seen porn before.
Beat.
BO. Excuse me?!
[cassidy is so unhinged]
TONI. Oh! So am I now the anti-Semite? … She is so sensitive!
[girl you called her slurs and think that’s not offensive?]
TONI. That apology isn’t for you to accept! That forgiveness isn’t for you! It’s for me! It’s mine!
[you see what i mean? she thinks she’s had the hardest life ever and doesn’t. stop. complaining.]
CASSIDY. Who is Emmett Till?
RIVER. I don’t know…
[my jaw dropped]
CASSIDY. You’re regarding my development.
[everyone got offended in this play]
RIVER. Family can be so hard on us women.
[shut the fuck up]
RIVER. I was a young girl once. I remember what the attentions of an older man could feel like then.
[dumbest of the dumb, are you serious rn?]
TONI. And didn’t think he was a racist—and she’s black!
[duuuude, stop, stop, no]
TONI. And whose favorite was Frank?
BO. I always thought he was your favorite.
[oml interestingggg]
TONI. Bo, it was a different time. These things were still so new! He was anxious.
BO. But how do we know he ever stopped being…anxious?
[toni, come on]
RHYS. Good. That’ll show Rachael, the Jew bitch.
[DUDE, he is killing me, and this bitch is gay, he’s a southern white man above all else i guess]
BO. I also have to walk through the world, trying to mind my own business, but getting accosted every fourteen minutes by some prick like you for being a white guy.
[bitch]
BO. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK!
[i’m sorry this made me BURST into laughter, so fuckin funny]
TONI. She was twelve and you got her pregnant for crying out loud!
…
FRANZ. It was ten years ago! How much more and I supposed to suffer, Toni?! How much am J supposed to suffer for things I did when I wasn’t the real me! I wasn’t me yet! I didn’t feel like a grown man!
[what a load of bullshit, shut the FUCK UP]
[but when toni said that i DIED, like HUH??]
RACHAEL. I’m not someone who raises fuck-ups—I raise winners!
[i cannot]
RACHAEL. What, Bo? I’m not in this family anymore! I can say whatever the fuck I want!
Over his head is a pointed white hood—an old pillow case with two eyeholes. Everyone watches him cry and cry, dead silent, mortified.
[when i tell you i gasped, this dead bitch has pictures of lynched black people, body part souvenirs, and a kkk hood, AND THEY STILL ‘don’t know’ IF THEIR DAD WAS RACIST, i’m sorry, WHAT???]
CASSIDY. I don’t know. They’re worth money. You can sell them. Or you can just…have them, I guess. To remember me? I don’t know…I feel like we’re never going to see each other again.
RHYS. We’ll see each other again. In a few years, we’ll be adults and we can, you know, we can be friends. We can see each other whenever we want.
[after frank/z said rhys and him are similar (referring to their unusual sexual urges), after the whole little played up ‘romance’ between these two, after these shady ass lines, i am so concerned, wouldn’t be surprised if rhys legitimately masturbated to these pictures or became a child sex offender]
TONI. Yes, because there’s no alive who’s held me. Isn’t that sad?
[NO ITS NOT, everyone’s parents die, that’s normal,, and what about your fucking ex-husband, you shit?,, she needs to stop with the victimizing]
RACHAEL. Didn’t you see them at the funeral? After, all Cassie could talk about was Rhys, Rhys, Rhys—went around posting these photos of the two of them together on Facebook and we were like, “Honey, please don’t do that. There’s a casket in the background.”
BO. So let’s keep an eye on the two of them, okay? I know we’re in Arkansas and everything—
[THIS WAS SO FUNNY, first the ‘casket in the background’ and then bo knowing they’re in incest territory, god, hilarious]
RACHAEL. You can’t blame people for the age they were raised. And do I expect you guys to totally…be able to grasp this? No, because you’ve never been discriminated against, but that’s how it is.
[ok miss ma’am, you’re white too though, chill]
CASSIDY. Is it naked pictures or something? I’ve seen porn before.
Beat.
BO. Excuse me?!
[cassidy is so unhinged]
TONI. Oh! So am I now the anti-Semite? … She is so sensitive!
[girl you called her slurs and think that’s not offensive?]
TONI. That apology isn’t for you to accept! That forgiveness isn’t for you! It’s for me! It’s mine!
[you see what i mean? she thinks she’s had the hardest life ever and doesn’t. stop. complaining.]
CASSIDY. Who is Emmett Till?
RIVER. I don’t know…
[my jaw dropped]
CASSIDY. You’re regarding my development.
[everyone got offended in this play]
RIVER. Family can be so hard on us women.
[shut the fuck up]
RIVER. I was a young girl once. I remember what the attentions of an older man could feel like then.
[dumbest of the dumb, are you serious rn?]
TONI. And didn’t think he was a racist—and she’s black!
[duuuude, stop, stop, no]
TONI. And whose favorite was Frank?
BO. I always thought he was your favorite.
[oml interestingggg]
TONI. Bo, it was a different time. These things were still so new! He was anxious.
BO. But how do we know he ever stopped being…anxious?
[toni, come on]
RHYS. Good. That’ll show Rachael, the Jew bitch.
[DUDE, he is killing me, and this bitch is gay, he’s a southern white man above all else i guess]
BO. I also have to walk through the world, trying to mind my own business, but getting accosted every fourteen minutes by some prick like you for being a white guy.
[bitch]
BO. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK!
[i’m sorry this made me BURST into laughter, so fuckin funny]
TONI. She was twelve and you got her pregnant for crying out loud!
…
FRANZ. It was ten years ago! How much more and I supposed to suffer, Toni?! How much am J supposed to suffer for things I did when I wasn’t the real me! I wasn’t me yet! I didn’t feel like a grown man!
[what a load of bullshit, shut the FUCK UP]
[but when toni said that i DIED, like HUH??]
RACHAEL. I’m not someone who raises fuck-ups—I raise winners!
[i cannot]
RACHAEL. What, Bo? I’m not in this family anymore! I can say whatever the fuck I want!
Over his head is a pointed white hood—an old pillow case with two eyeholes. Everyone watches him cry and cry, dead silent, mortified.
[when i tell you i gasped, this dead bitch has pictures of lynched black people, body part souvenirs, and a kkk hood, AND THEY STILL ‘don’t know’ IF THEIR DAD WAS RACIST, i’m sorry, WHAT???]
CASSIDY. I don’t know. They’re worth money. You can sell them. Or you can just…have them, I guess. To remember me? I don’t know…I feel like we’re never going to see each other again.
RHYS. We’ll see each other again. In a few years, we’ll be adults and we can, you know, we can be friends. We can see each other whenever we want.
[after frank/z said rhys and him are similar (referring to their unusual sexual urges), after the whole little played up ‘romance’ between these two, after these shady ass lines, i am so concerned, wouldn’t be surprised if rhys legitimately masturbated to these pictures or became a child sex offender]
TONI. Yes, because there’s no alive who’s held me. Isn’t that sad?
[NO ITS NOT, everyone’s parents die, that’s normal,, and what about your fucking ex-husband, you shit?,, she needs to stop with the victimizing]
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