Appropriate is a dramatic play written by American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
In 2011, the unnamed patriarch of the Lafayette family has recently passed. He leaves the family home in Southeastern Arkansas, an old plantation, to his three children: the overworked elder daughter Toni, the tactless middle brother Bo, and the estranged brother Frank. Toni has been made executor of the will, and Frank has not been seen or heard from in a decade.
The play opens as Frank and his eccentric fiancée from Portland, River, arrive at the house by entering through a window. Toni has been at the house preparing for an estate sale and auction of their father's old belongings with her troubled teenage son Rhys. Initially apprehensive of his sudden arrival, she reluctantly allows them to stay at the house. The next day, Bo and his wife Rachel arrive with their children: 13 year-old Cassidy and the much younger Ainsley.
As the group reconnect, unexpected items begin to be unpacked from boxes, such as jars containing body parts, but they are disregarded as being antiques from a prior owner. However, Ainsley is mistakenly given a photo album containing graphic imagery of lynchings, evoking panic from Rachel, who forbids Cassidy from viewing them. The adults deliberate the reasoning why the album would be there, the siblings not believing their father to be racist. Rachel, however, finds this plausible: she is Jewish, and at several points in her relationship with the father, he has disrespected or ignored her. Toni dismisses her father's accusation of antisemitism, and in the ensuing argument, sarcastically refers to Rachel as both a "Shylock" and a "kike", leading Rachel to storm out. Toni defends her actions as maintaining the sanctity of their father's name. Meanwhile, Bo reminds the group that they also inherited $500,000 worth of debt that the auction needs to pay off, but likely won't due to the low value of the land and the belongings. Out of anger that this reunion only serves to capitalize on their father's death, Toni drives away.
That night, Cassidy comes downstairs to see River meditating around the photo album, who then shows her the images. Cassidy is unsure how to feel about the pictures, but is quick to identify that they could be sold on the internet at a decent price to collectors due to their apparent historical value. Toni arrives back at the house drunk, and instructs Cassidy to place the pictures in her car. After she leaves, River attempts to connect with Toni and reveals that she is pregnant with Frank's child, to the latter's chagrin. During their discussion, Cassidy sneaks back in with the photos and hides. Rhys, on whom Cassidy has a crush, arrives to sleep on the downstairs couch. Cassidy and Rhys view the pictures together when Toni and River leave, and Rhys keeps them as Cassidy returns to bed. Frank comes downstairs as Rhys attempts to masturbate, but actually only seeing the lynching pictures, awkwardly begins to explain why they're important to view.
The next morning, the family prepares to welcome prospective buyers, but Toni has canceled the auction out of spite. Bo reveals that through his research, the album could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so that it doesn't matter if the auction is held after all. However, nobody is able to locate the images until Frank shows up wet and covered in mud after swimming in a local lake. He reveals that in an attempt to redeem himself to his family, he "baptized" himself in a nearby lake, bringing the photos with him and ruining them. Bo's ire enables Cassidy to reveal that she had been the one who invited Frank to the house (via Facebook) and not estate lawyers as previously thought. Rachel's concern with this illicit friendship turns to fury as Toni reveals that Frank had been estranged due to a prior drug addiction that led to Rhys entering rehab, and Frank's statutory rape of a 12 year-old girl that led to a pregnancy. River flees in disgust and a full brawl begins among the family. Right as things quell, Ainsley, who had been playfully running around with various artifacts all weekend, arrives in the room wearing a Klan hood he found in the patriarch's bedroom, to everyone's horror.
The next morning, Rachel is hurriedly leaving with Bo, and Frank claims to be working on mending his relationship with River. Toni declares that she is effectively dead to her relatives and their selfishness in their relationships with her and the estate are not worth salvaging. After everyone leaves, the house begins to fall apart over years of disrepair.
Jenkins conceived the play through participation with the Vineyard Arts Project and the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab beginning in 2011. The play was first performed at Actors Theatre of Louisville in the Humana Festival of New American Plays.
The play was next performed in Chicago at the Victory Gardens Theater and at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington D.C. in 2013.
Appropriate began previews Off-Broadway on February 25, 2014, in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York. It had its opening night on March 16, 2014, playing a limited run to April 6. Johanna Day was given the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance.
The play premiered on the West Coast at Center Theatre Group in 2015.
Appropriate opened at the Donmar Warehouse in London August 22, 2019, following previews from August 16. It played a limited run to October 5.
On June 15, 2023, Second Stage Theater announced that it would produce Appropriate at the Hayes Theater on Broadway as part of its 2023âÂÂ2024 season with Lila Neugebauer as the director. Previews began on November 29, 2023, with the official opening on December 18, 2023. The show extended for a second time, concluding its run at the Hayes on March 3, 2024. Appropriate transferred to the Belasco Theatre on March 25, 2024, and ran through June 30, 2024. The extended cast includes everyone except Elle Fanning, who was replaced by Ella Beatty, daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, making her Broadway debut.