YOUR PRIMARY CHOICE FOR GREAT THEATER.
TRUST ME.
The Goodman’s Chicago-premiere production of Primary Trust by Eboni Booth is everything I’ve been craving in theatre lately. Directed by Malkia Stampley, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play about loss and loneliness is intimate, dripping in empathy, but most importantly full of hope. I’ll even dare to say it’s my favorite piece of theatre this year.
Charles Andrew Gardner and Namir Smallwood
The protagonist, Kenneth, played by the marvelous Namir Smallwood, is 38 years old, living out a quiet life in Cranberry, New York, a suburb of Rochester. He introduces himself to the audience as such, in direct address. He goes on to introduce us to his town and is favorite place on earth: Wally’s, an old tiki restaurant with carpeting. He goes there almost every day of the week to drink mai tais with his best and only friend, Bert, played by Charles Andrew Gardner. Bert also just so happens to be imaginary.
Namir Smallwood and Charles Andrew Gardner
All the real people in Kenneth’s life, his bosses Sam and then Clay (both played by the superb Fred Zimmerman) and the many waiters at Wally’s (all played by a hilarious and nimble Christiana Clark) show him nothing but kindness, but Kenneth’s anxiety seems to stop him from really connecting. When his first boss, Sam, has to sell his bookstore, Kenneth is left without a job, and unsure what to do next. As the community he stays safely detached from steps up to help, he starts to gain the courage and confidence to reach out for more. The problem is, as he connects with real people, he starts to lose Bert, the buoy that’s kept him afloat since his mother died. Kenneth is faced with the risk of loving real people again, with all the pain that comes with it, or choosing to stay isolated with just his imagination for company.
Christiana Clark, Namir Smallwood and Charles Andrew Gardner
In her program note, Goodman Artistic Director Susan V. Booth speaks to why they’re doing this play right now. “There’s a growing awareness that we—the collective and more than one ‘we’—are lonelier than we have ever been. And that we’re lonely together.” This play certainly speaks to that and shows that the people around us can lighten our load by reminding us that we all experience grief and pain. That’s the complete human experience, and it’s a little easier if you’re not doing it alone. Before the play even begins, a voice spills out over the audience asking us to say hello to our neighbors (and, of course, turn off our cell phones). I didn’t think much of this prompt at the time, but after seeing the play, I’m struck by how persistently this play asks its audience to reach for connection.
Charles Andrew Gardner and Namir Smallwood
Director Malkia Stampley greatly aids in giving this play its open arms by leaning into its intimacy. Stampley stages the actors up close and personal with the audience. As a memory play, the story is fractured rather than linear, sometimes using a repeated line like “welcome to Wally’s” to show rapid passage of time. Stampley pieces these fractures together playfully, aided by Lex Liang’s very clever building block set design, while keeping the timeline clear.
Fred Zimmerman, Charles Andrew Gardner and Namir Smallwood
Liang’s set design deserves a mention all its own. The upstage wall depicts an aerial map of Cranberry, New York in the shape of a person’s face. To me, this evokes a metaphor for community, something this play surely intends to strengthen.
Namir Smallwood
As you come to see Primary Trust, I can almost guarantee you will leave feeling a little bit better and a little less lonely. This is a play about people lifting each other up and learning to brave enough to love even though loving hurts. This is one of those plays that moved me to tears and required I spend the whole way home in silence just thinking it all through. It relit my desire to be a better neighbor, which I hope is true for everyone who sees it.
Namir Smallwood and Christiana Clark
photos by Liz Lauren
Primary Trust
Goodman Theatre’s Owen Theatre, 170 North Dearborn
ends on November 3, 2024
for tickets, call 312.443.3800 or visit Goodman Theatre
for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago