Primary Trust

Arts Club Granville Island to March 2, 2025

Tickets from $29 at 604-687-1644 or www.artsclub.com

Posted February 14, 2025

Primary Trust is a mild-mannered little play – no sex, no drugs, no rock and roll. Nothing offensive. And that might be exactly what audiences are looking for. What with all the threats flying across the 49^th parallel, we’ve had it up to here with ‘offensive’.

Written by Eboni Booth and winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Primary Trust is about friendship, second chances and letting go. The title is a play on words: it’s the name of the bank where the central character eventually finds employment and new friends, and it also describes the core element of friendship: trust.

Coming forward into the spotlight right off the top, Kenneth introduces himself to us: he’s thirty-eight years old, lives in Cranberry, New York, population 15,000 mostly white, some black (including himself) and a few Cambodians “across the river”. He’s upbeat, personable, cheerful. And then he tells us his story in a series of flashbacks, between which he is back in the spotlight and talking to us. Flashback; direct address; flashback. And repeat.

One day, he tells us, he lost his job et voilà we are in that dusty old used bookstore where he has worked for twenty years. Clay, the owner, has sold the store to a developer and Kenneth suddenly finds himself unemployed.

Next we find Kenneth in Wally’s Café, his favourite place, with best friend Bert, whom Kenneth has been meeting every evening for fifteen years for mai tais. Bert sees the layoff as an opportunity for change. And when Corinna, the newly-hired Wally’s server, tells Kenneth they might be hiring at Primary Trust, Bert encourages Kenneth to apply.

And now we find ourselves in the bank where Kenneth is being interviewed by Sam, the Primary Trust manager.

Because the story is told in flashbacks and because Kenneth, from the start, is so amiable and easy-going, we know it all worked out for him. Yes, we do hear how Kenneth got to the place he is in now – and it’s tragic – but where’s the dramatic tension in the here-and-now? Without tension, performance is critical.

And here is where this production, directed by Ashlie Corcoran hits its stride. As Kenneth, Andrew Broderick is so darned laid-back, it’s like having a conversation with a friend over coffee. Broderick makes the character charming but not in any way smarmy or saccharine. A little vulnerable. Just a regular guy telling a regular story. Costume by Jolane Houle assists this illusion: plaid shirt, baggy-but-not-too-baggy trousers, glasses.  Casual. He’s our guy and we’re rooting for him.

Best friend Bert is portrayed by Broadus Mattison who could afford to be more charismatic but a big surprise is coming and perhaps charisma is not what the playwright had in mind for Bert. But we get the essentials: Bert likes Kenneth unconditionally and he provides the support that Kenneth needs to move on.

Celia Aloma plays a variety of roles including various Wally’s servers and Primary Trust customers. These she plays to exaggerated comedic effect that in a play rooted, more or less, in realism seem inconsistent. But as Corinna, Aloma settles into a realistic performance and that character comes alive for us.

And then there’s Andrew Wheeler whose performance is flat out terrific especially as Trust manager Sam. Wheeler is at the top of his game; he can do anything – comedy, drama, musical.  He’s hysterically funny and his timing is fantastic but, again, I’m just not sure this is what the play wants. I think Booth’s play is about how some people, by giving us kindness and understanding, can and do make a difference in our lives.  Wheeler’s portrayal of the bank manager is so quirky, he’s hardly real and I questioned Sam’s motivation in giving Kenneth a second chance.  My guest, however, had no problem  and, damn, Wheeler lifts this low-key little play into something else. Without Wheeler, Primary Trust would have been just a pleasant night at the theatre. Pulitzer Prize for Drama? I don’t know.

I also don’t know about the ‘ping’ that occurs frequently throughout. The review from the L.A. Times had this to say; “An important sound in the play is a bell that [the offstage musician] taps at regular intervals, often at moments when a line is spoken that lingers awkwardly in the air.” Important? I didn’t get it and wasted time during the play trying to figure it out.

Kevin McAllister provides a good looking classic bank façade, a tiki bar (with super-talented Anton Lipovetsky on keyboard and guitar behind a scrim) and a revolve that makes scene changes smooth and easy. Lighting by Itai Erdal.

Not at all offensive. Tender, gentle, uplifting in a quiet, low-key way. Possibly good for what ails you.