At Wally’s
Primary Trust
Photo by Dahlia Katz
Crows’ Theatre & the Grand Theatre Co-production/Primary Trust, written by Eboni, Booth, directed by Cherissa Richards, Guloien Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, closes June 21.
The second of the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas currently playing on Toronto stages is Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust, which was honoured in 2024 and is now at Crow’s Theatre.
The Pulitzer Board cited the play as “a simple and elegantly crafted story about a lonely man finding the courage to connect with others.” That description neatly captures the qualities of the play: its humanity, unpretentiousness and emotional truth. Booth’s achievement lies not in depicting extraordinary events, but in illuminating the inner life of an ordinary man.
Booth belongs to a younger generation of Black American playwrights whose work is not primarily defined by racial issues. She has stated that she is interested in the lives of ordinary people who might otherwise pass unnoticed. Her characters are not symbols or social arguments; they are fully realized human beings navigating loneliness, grief, and the search for connection. In Primary Trust, Booth’s focus is firmly on the small details of everyday life and the quiet emotional struggles that shape ordinary existence. In short, Booth is a playwright who has deep compassion for her characters.
Primary Trust unfolds as a largely narrative piece. At its centre is Kenneth (Durae McFarlane), a 38-year-old man living in Cranberry, a fictional suburb of Rochester, New York. Kenneth introduces himself directly to the audience and gradually reveals the contours of a life defined by routine.
After the death of his mother, he spent time in an orphanage and a series of foster homes before eventually finding stability. For many years he has worked in a local bookstore owned by Sam (Ryan Hollyman) and his wife. His closest companion is Bert (Peter N. Bailey), a married man with two daughters, whom Kenneth meets every evening after work.
Together they spend time at Wally’s, a tiki bar where Hawaiian music drifts through the air (musician Danilo Reyes) and Kenneth’s preferred drink is always a mai tai. Work, Bert, Wally’s, and home: that is the rhythm of Kenneth’s existence, a life that appears settled and predictable until circumstances force him to confront a world beyond the boundaries he has carefully constructed for himself.
The Bookstore
Primary Trust
Photo by Dahlia Katz
The upheaval arrives when Sam announces that he and his wife are selling the bookstore and relocating to Arizona for health reasons. Knowing how dependent Kenneth has become on the stability of his routine, Sam has delayed the conversation as long as possible. Yet the news is devastating. The bookstore has been the anchor of Kenneth’s life for years, and the prospect of losing it leaves him adrift.
At the same time, Kenneth has begun to develop a tentative friendship with Corrina (Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah), one of the waitresses at Wally’s. She suggests that Primary Trust, a local bank, may be hiring. The idea resonates with Kenneth, whose late mother worked in a bank, and he reluctantly ventures into unfamiliar territory by applying for a position. The ensuing interview with manager Clay (also Hollyman) provides some of the play’s most amusing moments as Kenneth struggles to navigate a world beyond the routines that have defined him for so long.
To Booth’s credit, the play’s supporting cast populates Cranberry with a vivid assortment of characters. Hollyman assumes a variety of male roles, while Roberts-Abdullah moves effortlessly among the female characters who cross Kenneth’s path. The result is a small ensemble creating an entire community around the protagonist. At the centre of it all is Kenneth, whose journey toward a new life begins when, much to his own surprise, he is offered the job at the bank.
Much of the play’s success rests on the shoulders of McFarlane as Kenneth, and he delivers a remarkable performance. With his nervous gestures, fluttering hands, hesitant manner, and quiet self-consciousness, the actor creates a man who has spent most of his life on the margins. Kenneth is lonely, awkward, and painfully aware of his own limitations, yet he possesses a gentle humour and a capacity for self-reflection that make him deeply sympathetic. What makes the performance so compelling is the sense that Kenneth understands himself far better than one might initially assume. He can observe his own habits, insecurities, and fears almost from the outside, yet remains unable to break free of them. McFarlane beautifully captures this tension between self-awareness and self-imprisonment, creating a character who is both touching and endlessly fascinating. It is a portrayal that fully serves Booth’s finely observed writing and allows the audience to invest completely in Kenneth’s journey.
Julie Fox has provided a rather drab set of two side buildings where set pieces conveniently turn into other things like Sam’s bookcase becoming Kenneth’s teller station. We do get a neon pink palm tree for Wally’s and a telephone pole with wires, and even a sewer cover but Cranberry does look bleak. Rachel Forbes costumes are person specific although every server at Wally’s does have their own unique Hawaiian shirt. Imogen Wilson’s lighting does nothing to alleviate the drabness. I do however like the green plush booth at Wally’s not to mention the colourful mai tais.
Watching Primary Trust produces an unusual emotional response. One feels deeply for Kenneth and the difficulties he faces, yet Booth’s writing possesses a lightness that prevents the play from becoming oppressive. Serious issues are present throughout, and genuine crises emerge as the story unfolds, but Booth approaches them with such delicacy that the play never sinks into despair. What emerges is an unusual combination: tragedy with charm. The play acknowledges loneliness, loss, and disappointment, yet it remains warm, funny, and quietly hopeful. Booth somehow manages to hold sorrow and joy in balance, allowing each to illuminate the other.
Clay’s Office
Primary Trust
Photo by Dahlia Katz
The entire cast contributes strongly to that effect, but much credit must also go to director Cherissa Richards. She understands exactly where the humour lies and where the emotional weight resides, never pushing either too hard. Her direction is detailed and assured, allowing the play to move at an engaging pace while preserving its subtlety. Richards trusts both the writing and the performers, and the result is a production that honours Booth’s greatest strength: her ability to find significance in the life of an ordinary person. Kenneth may live in a fictional suburb of Rochester, but his fears, hopes, disappointments, and small triumphs resonate far beyond Cranberry. That universality is ultimately what makes Primary Trust such a moving experience.
Perhaps the greatest irony lies in the title itself. At first, Primary Trust appears to be nothing more than the name of a local bank. Yet as the play unfolds, the phrase takes on a deeper significance. Kenneth’s journey is ultimately about learning to trust: to trust other people, to trust himself, and to believe that life can offer possibilities beyond the routines and disappointments that have defined him. In the hands of a lesser playwright, such material might have become sentimental or overly earnest, but as the Pulitzer board pointed out, Booth is a wordsmith of elegant finesse.
The Teller’s Station
Primary Trust
Photo by Dahlia Katz