There is a subtle irony that the rescheduled opening night of PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of the play Primary Trust occurred on the anniversary of the Broadway opening of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (1938). Much like Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, Eboni Booth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play leans into the ordinary and mundane and explores the virtues of community.
Booth’s play is set in the fictional town of Cranberry, New York in the 1990s. The main character, Kenneth, is navigating mental health issues and trauma and depends on an imaginary friend named Bert and the sweetness of Mai Tais for comfort and support. This routine has sustained him for 20 years. But the mere act of surviving is not thriving, which is the crux of Kenneth’s story.
Kenneth is dutifully nurtured by PlayMakers’ Company Member Nate John Mark who takes the audience on this journey of self-discovery unflinchingly. Company Member Samuel Ray Gates, who plays Kenneth’s imaginary friend Bert, looms with a measured yet magisterial presence. Their onstage chemistry is obvious as is the synergy of the supporting cast.
Director NJ Agwuna, who is making her PlayMakers’ directorial debut, approaches Booth’s material deliberately, with very few faults (just a few sightline issues). She understands the complexities and rhythm of Booth’s script and imbues a stillness that permeates throughout. This intentional, unhurried pacing affords both the actors and audience a chance to reflect and commune.
“The power to sit still in community and witness story and remain alive inside, quiet, as you receive that story and give energy to it, that contract between audience and event is a gift,” said Producing Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch.
Unlike many productions of Our Town which are often performed with minimal sets and props, Lex Liang’s Primary Trust set is wondrous. Reminiscent of a model train town with structures that are dwarfed by the actors, it feels symbolic of the vulnerability and fragility of our communities.
Primary Trust shifts our focus away from the violence affecting many of our neighborhoods and spotlights the value of caring for one another unconditionally. Neighbor helping neighbor. What a concept. That is the kind of Cranberry world, I want to live in; you can take that to the bank.
Primary Trust runs through February 15 at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill. For more information, click here.
