Review: PRIMARY TRUST at Signature Theatre

Primary Trust is a touching, intimate, and deeply affecting work. The 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winner is making its Washington-area premiere at Signature Theatre in an outstanding production directed by Obie Award winner Taylor Reynolds.

We meet Kenneth (played by the wonderful Julius Thomas III) who tells us simply and directly, “This is the story of friendship. Of how I got a job. A story of love and balance and time and the smallest of chances.”

Kenneth spends most evenings laughing and swapping stories and swigging mai tais with his best friend at Wally’s Tiki Bar (New York’s oldest tiki bar!) in a suburb outside Rochester.

Yet soon we discover that Kenneth is a deeply lonely man who has fallen between the cracks of the small community. The used book store where he’s worked for twenty-or-so years must close and now Kenneth must step forward and create a new life for himself. He is not sure he has the bravery and vulnerability needed to weather this change.

Primary Trust features an ensemble of four extraordinary actors. It is hard to imagine anyone other than Julius Thomas III in the role of Kenneth. His depth, gentleness and connection are memorable and affecting. In Signature’s ARK Theatre, no audience member is more than a few feet from the actor – and we can see the subtle changes of Thomas’s face, so quietly expressive, particularly Kenneth’s rare grins that are hard won.

Craig Wallace lends strength and paternal energy as both the gruff chain smoking book store owner Sam and bank manager Clay who leads as he did in his party boy days of glory on the football field.

Frank Britton as Bert is a gentle sidekick with the words of encouragement and guidance Kenneth needs to hear.

Yesenia Iglesias plays an array of waiters in Wally’s and a slew of bank customers – all distinct and memorable. Iglesias has great fun with this wide range of characters and is a joy to watch. As Corrina she is the wonderful beating heart of the production.

"In a theatrical landscape where plays and musicals are getting bigger and flashier, Primary Trust stands out as an intimate space for audiences to examine our relationship to loneliness, grief, and our desire for connection together,” said director Taylor Reynolds (who memorably directed local productions The Sensational Sea Minkettes at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Fat Ham at Studio Theatre, Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally at Baltimore’s Center Stage). “Playwright Eboni Booth gives us a guide through this examination in Kenneth, a Black man in a mostly white town in a time before cell phones. Through him, we are able to question for ourselves, 'How does anyone accomplish the impossible and wonderful feat of making a friend?'”

Primary Trust is a quiet play that unfolds slowly – a big change from Signature’s recent HAIR or Soft Power.  This is not a play of pomp and spectacle. Hopefully Signature audiences will be alert to and receptive of this gentle, steady, moving production.

In the opening moments – with faint echoes of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town from nearly a century before – Kenneth points out the highlights of Cranberry: a post office, a library, two banks, a grocery store, and the used book store where Kenneth has worked for the last twenty years. Misha Kachman’s clever scenic design is a toy-like model town that runs up the back wall and wraps the sides of the theatre. Other set pieces are multi-functional, easily moved into place by the small team of actors. Similarly, Danielle Preston’s costume design features modern pieces that can easily be swapped when a character or scene changes. A fun highlight of Venus Gulbranson’s lighting design is that the set’s small buildings light up when there is a reference to the bank or Wally’s or another shop.  Frederick Kennedy is the sound designer and created the original music.

Playwright Eboni Booth began Primary Trust as a student at Juilliard, working under the guidance of Marsha Norman (‘Night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple.) Just six months ago it earned the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The New York Times listed Primary Trust as one of the top 15 shows to see around the country this fall. The Signature Theatre staging of Primary Trust – the DC premiere – is one of five major productions happening this fall (along with versions at La Jolla Playhouse, the Goodman Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater and Barrington Stage Company).

Eboni Booth’s work is in assured and capable hands at Signature Theatre. Director Taylor Reynolds expertly peels back the layers of the story, providing greater insight into Kenneth’s life. The four actors – Frank Britton, Yesenia Iglesias, Craig Wallace and Julius Thomas III – are a solid, exceptional, touching team. They remind us to take a moment to look around and see the humans we are with. They beautifully encourage us to trust.

Running Time:  95 minutes with no intermission

PRIMARY TRUST by Eboni Booth and directed by Taylor Reynolds is produced by Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. The production runs through October 20. For tickets, accessible performance information, special events, attendance policies, and further information visit the company's website.

This show uses adult language, descriptions of childhood trauma and will contain use of herbal cigarettes and theatrical haze. Recommended for ages 13+.

Photo Credit: DJ Corey Photography

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