29 pages • 58 minutes read
Branden Jacobs-JenkinsEverybody
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Before You Read
Super Short Summary
Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a modern retelling of the medieval morality play Everyman, where God orders Death to bring a character named Everybody through the process of dying. Everybody seeks companionship for this journey, encountering personifications of concepts like Friendship, Family, and Stuff, who all refuse to accompany them. Eventually, Love agrees to go, but only after transforming Everybody, and only Evil joins them at the end.
Reviews & Readership
Review Roundup
Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins revives the medieval morality play with contemporary relevance and inventive theatricality. Critics commend its humor, diverse casting, and philosophical depth. Some find its structure disjointed and pacing uneven, but its thought-provoking exploration of mortality and identity earns overall praise for an engaging, modern adaptation.
Who Should Read Everybody?
Readers who appreciate thought-provoking, modern adaptations of classic texts like T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral or Beckett's Waiting for Godot will enjoy Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Everybody. This allegorical play, inspired by the 15th-century morality play Everyman, combines existential questions with humor and contemporary relevance.
RecommendedReading Age
18+yearsBook Details
Play: Drama
Allegory / Fable / Parable
American Literature
Grief / Death
Philosophy
Religion / Spirituality
Emotions/Behavior: Fear
Emotions/Behavior: Love
Life/Time: Mortality & Death