PRODUCTION HISTORY
Primary Trust had its world premiere at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre on May 25, 2023, and was produced by Roundabout Theatre Company (Scott Ellis, interim artistic director; Sydney Beers, executive producer). It was directed by Knud Adams. The scenic design was by Marsha Ginsberg, the costume design was by Qween Jean, the lighting design was by Isabella Byrd, the sound design was by Mikaal Sulaiman, original music was by Luke Wygodny, hair and wig design was by Nikiya Mathis, and the production stage managers were Rachel Bauder and David Sugarman. The cast was: William Jackson Harper as Kenneth, Eric Berryman as Bert, April Matthis as Corrina/Wally’s Waiter/Bank Customers, and Jay O. Sanders as Clay/Sam/Le Pousselet Bartender. Primary Trust was developed at the 2021 Ojai Playwrights Conference (Robert Egan, Artistic Director/Producer), and further developed by Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Illinois (Ken-Matt Martin, Artistic Director; Roxanna Conner, Acting Managing Director), as part of the 2022 Ignite Chicago Festival of New Plays.
Primary Trust is copyright © 2024 by Eboni Booth. All inquiries regarding rights should be addressed to Sam Barickman and Diana Glazer, Creative Arts Agency, 405 Lexington Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10174, sam.barickman@caa.com, diana.glazer@caa.com. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that performances of Primary Trust are subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright union (Including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproductions, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of readings, permission for which must be secured from the author’s agent in writing.
CHARACTERS
KENNETH: male, Black, late 30s
BERT: male, Black, late 30s–40s
CORRINA/WALLY’S WAITER/BANK CUSTOMERS: female, Black, 30s–40s
CLAY/SAM/LE POUSSELET BARTENDER: male, any race, 50s–60s
PLACE
Cranberry, New York, a medium-sized suburb of Rochester.
TIME
Before smartphones.
NOTE
A “ / ” indicates overlapping text. If the “ / ” appears at the start of the line, the following line should start at the same time.
** indicates the passage of time.
DEDICATION
For Hope
(As the lights dim, Kenneth walks onto the stage. He thinks for a moment and then addresses the audience:)
KENNETH
This is what happened.
(A moment. He thinks.)
**
This is—
I’d like to tell you—
**
This is the story of how if you had asked me six months ago if I was lonely, I would have said—
**
(A moment. He thinks.)
This is the story of a friendship. Of how I got a new job. A story of love and balance and time. And the smallest of chances.
My name is Kenneth. I’m 38 years old and I live in Cranberry, New York, a suburb about 40 miles east of Rochester.
(The lights rise on Cranberry, New York.)
We have our own post office, a church, two banks, and a wine shop just opened across from the train station. Down past Main Street, just along the river’s edge, is a supermarket, a bowling alley, and my favorite place on earth—Wally’s.
(The lights rise on Wally’s. A man in a Hawaiian shirt plays “The Girl from Ipanema” on a Casio keyboard just beyond the salad bar.)
Wally’s is an old tiki restaurant with carpeting, and there’s always a man in a Hawaiian shirt playing the keyboard next to the salad bar. Most nights of the week you can find me at a table sipping on a mai tai. Fifteen years from now, most of that land will be cleared and covered in pavement and new condominiums, but for right now, it feels like some version of home.
**
(Wally’s Waiter enters.)
WALLY’S WAITER
Welcome to Wally’s, New York’s oldest tiki hut and home to the Ooga Booga Prime Rib Platter, coming with your choice of mac and cheese, coleslaw, or hush puppies. My name is Miriam and I’ll be your waitress this evening. Can I start you off with something to drink? Don’t forget that every hour is happy hour at Wally’s, but on Hoo-Ray Thursdays, we have two-forone mai tais.
**
KENNETH
Here in Cranberry (population: 15,000) our town motto is: “Welcome Friend, You’re Right on Time!” It’s printed on the library cards and the municipal sign just off the interstate. Cranberry is mostly white, but there are some Black people. There’s also a sizable Cambodian population on the other side of the river. Most of the time everyone treats me fine, although there was that one night out at the dairy farm where—
(A moment.)
But that’s another story.
**
WALLY’S WAITER
Welcome to Wally’s.
KENNETH
I don’t know how my mother ended up in Cranberry. She was originally from the Bronx and moved here all alone right before I was born. She worked at Mutual Loan Bank and died when I was 10 years old. One day I’ll ask what made her move so far from home. I hope that I get to see her again—if not in this lifetime, then the next.
Not that I’m much of a religious person. I don’t really believe in God or Heaven or Hell, but I do believe in friends, and Bert is the best friend around.
(Bert enters.)
Say hi, Bert.
BERT
Hello.
KENNETH
(To the audience) Remember those delicious mai tais I was talking about? Well, I drink those with Bert.
BERT
We love mai tais.
KENNETH
Most nights of the week—after I get done with work—Bert and I meet in front of the post office and walk over to Wally’s and spend the whole night laughing and talking and being best friends.
**
(Kenneth and Bert sit at a table at Wally’s.)
WALLY’S WAITER
Welcome to Wally’s. My name is Paul. Today is Coconut Tuesday. We have two-for-one mai tais and $3 Reggae shrimp.
KENNETH
I’ll have a mai tai.
**
One more.
**
Another round.
**
One more, por favor, and an order of those fancy shrimp.
**
BERT
We’re getting the whole downstairs renovated.
KENNETH
Wow.
BERT
The design is—they call it “open concept.” You can see right from the kitchen through the dining room into the living room to the front door. And we ordered barstools for the counter.
KENNETH
Hey, that’s great.
BERT
They say they can have it finished by December. We’ll see. Contractors.
KENNETH
I bet a Christmas tree is going to look really good in there.
**
WALLY’S WAITER
Welcome to Wally’s. My name is Betty.
**
BERT
Did you wash your hands?
KENNETH
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
BERT
What?
KENNETH
I have dry skin.
BERT
So carry lotion. I get the travel-sized ones at the pharmacy. Just keep it in your pocket.
KENNETH
Technically we don’t need to wash our hands as much as we do.
BERT
No, I think we do.
KENNETH
Our culture is germ-obsessed. I’m developing antibodies doing it this way.
