Philadelphia Theatre Company presents Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust

Eboni Booth’s 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner chronicles the quotidian existence of Kenneth (Newton Buchanan), who has spent his entire existence in Cranberry, New York, a fictional suburb of Rochester. A loner profoundly traumatized by the early death of his mother, Kenneth works a menial job at a used bookstore. His sole pastime seems to be drinking mai tais at the local tiki restaurant, where he socializes with his only friend Bert (Akeem Davis).

Humor and heartbreak

Things aren’t always how they appear, though, in Booth’s intricately plotted slice of life. As Kenneth faces upheaval and the need to find a new job—his bookstore boss, Clay (David Ingram), must sell the store to pay for his medical treatment—the audience learns that this quiet young man’s tether to reality is much looser than it initially seemed. For one thing, the gregarious Bert exists only in Kenneth’s head.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Booth crafts a profound meditation on grief and self-preservation, intricately balancing humor and heartbreak as Kenneth faces success and setbacks in moving his life forward. Primary Trust often feels like a hip, contemporary version of Harvey, Mary Chase’s classic dramedy about another maladjusted drifter who invents an imaginary friend as a means of self-preservation. Kenneth’s journey proves endlessly endearing, as he settles himself into a new job as a bank teller and hesitantly explores a romance with Corrina (Taysha Marie Canales), a waitress he meets at his favorite watering hole.

A heavy lift

Booth doesn’t shy away from darkness, though—an extended soliloquy in which Kenneth describes the aftermath of his mother’s death from cancer is particularly harrowing. Yet Amina Robinson’s production for PTC too often dwells on the sunnier elements of the script, causing the proceedings to seem lighthearted and twee. The brilliance of Booth’s writing lies in the balance of resilience and hopelessness that define Kenneth’s life: he keeps putting one foot in front of the other, whether he wants to or not. Here his travails emerge with the gravitas of a sitcom.

That’s partially due to Buchanan’s rather flat central performance. The role of Kenneth is a heavy lift—he’s onstage nearly every minute of the play—and Buchanan doesn’t always meet the challenge, appearing especially superficial in moments of anger or disillusionment. I spent much of the performance wondering how his co-star Davis, who brings complex layers to the tricky role of Bert, might have fared in the role instead.

Worthwhile company

PTC’s physical production misses the mark as well, with a pictorial Main Street set design (by David P. Gordon) that looks too cute by half. As with the tone set by Robinson’s direction, it communicates the outwardly idyllic character of small-town life without suggesting the murkiness that lingers underneath. Larry D. Fowler Jr.’s sound design also proves distracting, too intrusive in certain scenes and too faint in others.

Despite his quirks—or perhaps because of them—Kenneth still proves himself to be worthwhile company. I wish that PTC allowed the audience to see a more fully realized portrait of him.