Join our community of SUBSCRIBERS and be part of the conversation.

To subscribe, simply enter your email address on our website or click the subscribe button below. Don't worry, we respect your privacy and won't spam your inbox. Your information is safe with us.

[td_block_social_counter style=”style7 td-social-boxed” manual_count_instagram=”32111″ instagram=”#” twitch=”#” manual_count_twitch=”11243″ tiktok=”#” manual_count_tiktok=”32214″ f_network_font_family=”tt-primary-font_global” f_counters_font_family=”tt-primary-font_global” tdc_css=”eyJhbGwiOnsibWFyZ2luLWJvdHRvbSI6IjAiLCJkaXNwbGF5IjoiIn19″]

News

Company:

Friday, May 9, 2025

Pulitzer Prize Winner Shines at TheaterWorks

Share

Primary Trust
TheaterWorks Hartford

By Tom Holehan
Connecticut Critics Circle

Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Primary Trust is currently onstage at TheaterWorks Hartford. Eboni Booth’s moving, bittersweet drama about loneliness and friendship is being given a sterling rendering in Hartford.

Primary Trust introduces Kenneth, a 38-year-old African-American bookstore worker living in the fictional Rochester suburb of Cranberry, New York. Reminiscent of the Stage Manager in Our Town, Kenneth is our guide through his life in Cranberry, a journey of self-discovery resulting in losing one job, perhaps getting another and the twists and surprises along the way. I hesitate to reveal much more of the plot here because the discovery of just what Booth has in store for viewers should not be spoiled.

Instead, I will marvel at the playwright’s generosity of spirit and humanity that she gives Kenneth and how that is transferred to the audience in meaningful and often unexpected ways. We all probably know a “Kenneth,” lonely men, sitting solo in a bar, nursing drinks, drifting through life with, what appears to be, no purpose. In Primary Trust, which is performed just under 95 minutes without intermission, we follow Kenneth and learn more about what made and makes him the man we see before us. It’s often a riveting journey.

Onstage for the entirety of the play, Justin Weaks is exemplary as Kenneth. Vulnerable, funny, and touching with not a false moment in sight, this gifted actor makes you both fear and root for Kenneth’s outcome. It’s a masterful and subtle performance of great nuance and tenderness. The supporting cast lends able support with Hilary Ward effortlessly playing several characters including a flirty waitress who just may give Kenneth a reason to smile. Samuel Stricklen, as Kenneth’s mysterious best friend, is a winning side-kick and Ricardo Chavira lends variety as two very different bosses that shape Kenneth’s work life.

All the actors, under the creative direction of Jennifer Chang, are called upon to keep the action flowing with simple set changes that are perfectly choreographed throughout the evening. Chang previously directed Primary Trust at the Berkshires’ Barrington Stage where Weaks and Ward were also cast. TheaterWorks’ top design team, however, has created a new environment for the play in Hartford that includes excellent settings by Nicholas Ponting, fluid lighting that shimmers (Bryan Ealey) and dynamic sound (Frederick Kennedy) that is almost a character in itself. In all, I loved this new play and TheaterWorks has delivered one terrific production.

Primary Trust continues at TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl Street in Hartford, Connecticut through May 11. For further information and ticket reservations call the theatre box office at 860.527.7838 or visit: www.twhartford.org.  

Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and the Stratford Crier and Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website: www.ctcritics.org.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Read more

Local News