Photos by Benjamin Rose
By Shelley A. Sackett
Like homesickness and old age, some things just “creep up” on us. A feeling that might start suddenly and imperceptibly, the sensation gradually builds until reaching a tipping point, after which we are acutely aware of and significantly affected by it.
Such is the case with SpeakEasy’s first production of the 2025/2026 season, Primary Trust, now enjoying a long run through October 11 (so there’s plenty of time to catch this gem).
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2024, the drama focuses on an emotionally delicate young man (late 30s) named Kenneth (a magnificently understated David J. Castillo). Orphaned at 10 years old, he coped with the traumas of childhood abandonment by creating an imaginary companion named Bert (Arthur Gomez in a pitch-perfect, unfussy performance).
“This is the story of a friendship,” Kenneth says by way of introduction. He then begins to tell his tale.
He lives in Cranberry, New York, an upstate mostly white town (“there are some Cambodians”) of 15,000, where his mother and he had settled. For almost 20 years, Kenneth has spent his days working in a bookstore run by Sam (Luis Negrón, playing a number of roles effectively). He spends his nights at Wally’s, the local Tiki bar where he (and he as Bert) drink 2-for-1 Mai Tais until Kenneth’s pain reaches the tipping point of anesthetization.
It is through his conversations with Bert that we get our first glimpse of Kenneth’s interior world. Robotic and guarded at work, he opens up (after his first handful of drinks) with his best friend, who, though imaginary, isn’t fake. “He’s the realest thing I know,” Kenneth says matter-of-factly.
Frequent asides to the audience also clue us in to the inner turmoil that Kenneth just manages to keep a lid on. The routine he has established — work, Wally’s, stumble home blackout drunk — gives him the stability and sense of purpose he so desperately craves.
All comes to a grinding halt when Sam announces his intention to sell the bookstore and move to Arizona. That night, Bert barely succeeds in calming him down. Unmoored, Kenneth will, for the first time in his adult life, have to find a job on his own and establish a new routine.
The first indication that this upheaval might have a silver lining is the night he befriends Wally’s bartender, Corinna (Janelle Grace, who plays a number of roles well, especially Corinna). This is a huge step for Kenneth. He has been coming to Wally’s every night for 15 years and, until Corinna sits down at his table, has never said a word to anyone other than Bert.
She suggests he apply for a job at Primary Trust, the aptly named local bank where, coincidentally, his mother had worked. She also manages to draw him out of his shell, sensitive to his skittishness but unwilling to let him retreat. She, too, is lonely, and director Dawn M. Simmons masterfully handles their initial encounter with restraint and grace. “It’s nice to know I’m not alone,” Corinna shares.
Kenneth lands the job at the bank and knocks it out of the ballpark, becoming a top producer in short order. His biggest challenge now shifts to keeping his inner demons at bay during the day until he can hightail it to the safety of Wally’s. Bert is no longer the only imaginary part of his life. This unfamiliar veneer of “normalcy” and success is like the skin that forms on a pot of milk right before it boils over.
Slowly, and with Corinna’s help, Kenneth tiptoes out of his comfort zone, sharing and receptive to more. She brings out a playfulness in him. She also earns his trust and she (and we) learn the details of the events that catapulted Kenneth from the harshness of reality to the haven of the imaginary.
Although he is still anxious and searching for his North Star, with Corinna, he starts to understand that there are others in the real world he can connect with and that solitude may be more of a prison than a sanctuary.
Playwright Booth handles Kenneth’s transformative transition with subtlety and precision. She has a knack for economical dialogue that gets the job done (a breath of fresh air). Confident in his craftsmanship, he elevates the pathos by imbuing it with glimmers of optimism and bright sparks of humor.
Shelley Barish’s set is simple, effective and efficient. Wally’s Tiki Bar and Primary Trust bank anchor the left and right sides of the stage, the center fluctuating between Sam’s bookstore, a snowy sidewalk, and a fancy restaurant. Simmons makes some interesting directorial decisions. Booth punctuates his script with asterisks meant to indicate that the actor pauses for a beat. Unlike many playwrights who specify directorial translation, Booth leaves it up to the individual director to decide how to interpret that transition.
Simmons has chosen to mark those beats with the clang of a bell. At first confusing and annoying, they grow on you, eventually making sense. Kudos to Simmons for this creative and bold move.
At 95 minutes (no interruption), Primary Trust has ample time to build an arc of crisis and dénouement that is both satisfying and thought-provoking. By the play’s end, we are as altered as Kenneth. By sharing his intimate experience and ultimate survival, he has reminded us how much we mean to and need others.
As Simmons states in her program notes, “My deepest hope is that Primary Trust offers you something…meaningful — a jolt of hope, a whisper of kindness, or simply a moment to breathe and reflect on what it means to walk through this world together.”
‘Primary Trust’ — Written by Eboni Booth. Directed by Dawn Simmons. Scenic Design by Shelley Barish; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through October 11.
Recommended.For more information, visit speakeasystage.com/
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