It’s easy to invest in TheatreWorks’ ‘Primary Trust’
Bert (Kenny Scott) is Kenneth’s (William Thomas Hodgson) best friend in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Primary Trust, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Eboni Booth. Photo by Kevin Berne
There’s a veneer of sweetness to Eboni Booth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Primary Trust, now receiving its Bay Area premiere in a thoughtful, moving TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley production. But that cheerful veneer only intermittently conceals the pain, sadness, loneliness and mental illness of its kind-hearted main character.
That would be Kenneth, a 38-year-old living in a sleepy (and fictional) suburb of Rochester, N.Y., called Cranberry. The whole 90-minute play is performed on a giant cartoon map of the town (set design by Christopher Fitzer), with lit-up markers denoting the church, the two banks, the bookstore, the bars, the bowling alley, etc. Kenneth has been an orphan since the age of 10, and in many ways, he lives his life like a grown-up 10-year-old. He’s worked in the same bookstore for 20 years. He goes to the same mai tai happy hour at Wally’s tiki bar every night (except some Sundays). And he has exactly one friend.
Bert (Kenny Scott) and a Wally's waiter (Rolanda D. Bell) brighten up happy hour for Kenneth (William Thomas Hodgson) in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Primary Trust. Photo by Kevin Berne
It’s not a spoiler alert to reveal that his friend Bert (Kenny Scott), whom we see and who Kenneth clearly sees, is imaginary. There’s a lot more to Bert’s story, which would be a spoiler, but seeing a nearly 40-year-old man interacting joyfully (and publicly) with his imaginary buddy, is unsettling, especially after he downs tropical drink after tropical drink.
The trick to Booth’s play, directed here with a warmhearted touch by Jeffrey Lo, is that we have to love Kenneth. That’s easy to do thanks to William Thomas Hodgson, who makes the character as endearing as he is troubled. Kenneth is a kind, loving person who has been too much on his own for too long. The fact that he is one of only a few Black people in the town is not dwelled upon, but it has to add to his sense of otherness and isolation.
A creature of habit, Kenneth heads into uncharted territory when his kindly bookseller boss (played by the always incisive Dan Hiatt) makes the difficult decision to close the store and focus on his failing health. This means that for the first time as an adult, and without the aid of a social worker, Kenneth will have to find a job and figure out how to deal with Bert, who seems to be the only source of calm in Kenneth’s most stressful moments.
In this rather idyllic town and at this pivotal moment, Kenneth, who has known his share of bullying, encounters just the right people at just the right time to help deliver him into actual adulthood. Chief among them is Corrina (Rolanda D. Bell), a new waitress at the tiki bar, who emerges as a true friend and guide. She not only points Kenneth toward a new career path in banking but also introduces him to martinis.
Corrina (Rolanda D. Bell) introduces Kenneth (William Thomas Hodgson) to the joys of a martini (with a twist) in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Primary Trust. Photo by Kevin Berne
In addition to Corrina, Bell plays a number of characters – mostly waitstaff at the bar and customers at the bank – and she is a whirlwind of charm. Hiatt also doubles as the head of the bank (called Primary Trust, naturally), and his empathy and enthusiasm for Kenneth’s mix of strange and sweet is a good example of the kind of humane, quirky lives that playwright Booth is exploring with a mix of tenderness and gentle comedy.
Booth also bakes into the script a recurring sound effect – a bell – that triggers when time elapses quickly, or an actor is making a character shift or when Kenneth is going through something. It’s a kind of hyper-theatrical, aural punctuation, and intellectually, it’s interesting. In practice, however, it’s ultimately distracting and, to be honest, kind of annoying. And maybe that’s intentional. On the surface, everything seems smooth and easy in Kenneth’s world, but that is far from true. That smoothness is constantly upset by his troubled inner life, and the bell is a jarring manifestation of that.
Booth is an optimist and has faith in the power of community and an ultimate trust in kindness as an essential element in human interaction. Primary Trust is about connection and living outside your head, day by day, even amid all the grief and darkness. “Even though we will lose everything in the end,” one character says, “it is the finding that is important. And it is a privilege to love everything before death touches it.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust continues through March 29 in a TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley production at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission). Tickets are $34-$115. Call 877-662-8978 or visit theatreworks.org
