Review: PRIMARY TRUST at Barrington Stage Company

PRIMARY TRUST was developed at the 2021 Ojai Playwrights Conference.  The drama premiered Off-Broadway in May 2023 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2024.  The New York Times listed PRIMARY TRUST as one of the top 15 shows to see around the country this fall while there are five major productions being mounted. Berkshire theatre goers are fortunate to have one as the final production in Barrington Stage Company’s 30th anniversary season.

Kenneth, a 38-year-old bookstore worker, has a happy life filled with simple pleasures like Mai Tais with his lifelong best friend. But he is shaken from his routines after a sudden layoff. In finding a new job at a local bank, he starts to open up to others while also opening up moments from his past.

PRIMARY TRUST features an ensemble of four exemplary actors.  Justin Weeks is ideal as Kenneth.  His performance suggests something being a bit off, but we can never be too sure of what that might be.  Kyle Haden plays Bert with unwavering strength and confidence.  C. David Johnson takes on the roles of Clay, Sam, Le Pousselet Bartender, and Wally’s Employee with dexterity across the board.  Hilary Ward also plays multiple characters including Corrina, Wally’s Waiters / Bank Customers with nimbleness and skill.  All display a range of emotion and characterizations that are fully believable, enjoyable, and commendable.  The production, directed by Jennifer Chang, features scenic design by Baron E. Pugh, costume design by Danielle Preston, lighting design by Bryan Ealey, sound design by Salvador Zamora and Tyler Crow is Production Stage Manager.

The 95-minute production (presented without intermission) provides an ample amount of humor and levity.  The pace is moderate and comfortable.  As Kenneth’s relatively unremarkable reality plays out, we are left with a sense that something must be missing.  He seems to want only to be left alone.  He has established his routine, his own version of “normal”.  We learn that although Kenneth does not seek or welcome change, it is continually thrust upon him. Ultimately, both he and we realize that the coping mechanism Kenneth has chosen in response to life’s inevitable curves, primarily isolation, is less than optimal.  In fact, it borders on agoraphobia.  Quite subtly and disarmingly, Booth’s script points out that aloneness and detachment are akin to retreat.  That humans have an innate need for connection with others that is essential to our health and wellbeing.  This need is rooted in our biology and is as important as food, water (or Mai Tais), and shelter.

 PRIMARY TRUST is a refreshingly intimate production.  It provides a space in which audiences are encouraged to examine our relationship to loneliness, grief, and our desire for connection.  BSC Artistic Director, Alan Paul said: “When I saw the play last summer, I was moved by the purity of the story and the timeliness of its themes.  We all need community and a sense of belonging, and it’s inspiring to see a character find the courage to seek those things out.”  I encourage seeing this charming, delightful, relevant, powerful production of PRIMARY TRUST at Barrington Stage Company’s St. Germain Stage in downtown Pittsfield where it continues through October 13.

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