Primary Trust - Roundabout

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 6:42pm

Didn’t see a thread about this but saw it last week and thought it was quite lovely. Incredible performances from William Jackson Harper and April Matthis. A simple but very warm play from Eboni Booth that is so heartfelt. Really cute set too. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 8:24pm

I have been waiting for a thread on this play. I do plan to see it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/20/23 at 4:45pm

Saw todays matinee - what a beautiful little play this is. I didn’t know anything besides William Harper Jackson was in it (and that’s all I needed to know) and whoo-boy did this quiet little story move me. A play about loneliness, trauma and mental illness that in places is also surprisingly funny, touching and heartwarming. 
 

I’ll definitely go back to see it again while it’s running and hope others check it out, too. Just wonderful all around. 

[Theater3232]

Posted: 5/20/23 at 5:01pm

I didn't care for it at all - that bell ringing over & over took me out of the space and was so annoying.  That waiter/waitress who kept saying the same thing over and over (maybe 100 different times) was so tedious.  The only good character was the boss, but too bad he was in like only 2 scenes.  Overall a waste of 1 hour 40 minutes.  Had no idea how it ended or if there was something at the end that I missed?  Very esoteric play and hard to care about.  Large student group in attendance and lots of empty seats.  Doesn't appear to be selling well.  Also it was so bizarre to see about 40% of the audience stand and all give the exact same standing ovation: hands up to their heads and very rapid clapping.  It's as if they were all affiliated with the show and rehearsed how to do the clapping.  Very very bizarre.

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 5/20/23 at 5:04pm

Eric Berryman and April Matthis are two of the very best actors working today. It's such a pleasure to see them in this, even if the play was too sentimental for me personally.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/20/23 at 5:11pm

Rehearsed clapping? Hmmmm. 
Standing ovation today as well but like a matinee performance at a roundabout show, it was mainly folks over the age of 60. Not sure if they’re all affiliated with the show like you think. 
 

The bell ringing, I can’t say I completely understood but after the first few minutes I accepted it as part of the storytelling. 
As for Jay O’Sanders as The Boss (or bosses), I’m not sure what you mean about him being only in two scenes. He was pretty consistently in different scenes throughout the entire play. 
 

And did you walk out before it ended? Because the ending wasn’t confusing or vague at all it was actually a pretty solid ending with where this character is going in his life now. So if you explain what you mean by “i have no idea how it ended”, I can probably explain it to you. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/20/23 at 5:14pm

Synecdoche2 said: "Eric Berryman and April Matthis are two of the very best actors working today. It's such a pleasure to see them in this, even if the play was too sentimental for me personally."


 

 

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I think after some of the shows I’ve seen lately, primarily “A Little Life” where literally everything that can go wrong for a human being does go wrong, it was actually nice and actually kind of refreshing to see a story where things work out well for the main character. I feel like that’s kind of a rare thing to see nowadays, but I do understand how that could be seen as “sentimental”.

 

[Theater3232]

Posted: 5/20/23 at 6:04pm

The joke about "why do you want to work here" (I need the money) was funny.  But the end just seemed to be a bunch of talk and talk, I think with the lead guy & the waiter/waitress character if I remember correctly, and it didn't make sense to me.  I really wasn't drawn into the play so I wasn't able to follow the end.  The guy did seem to talk a little more clearly at the end but I'm not really sure what happened.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 12:52am

boy was this a misfire, painfully slow and considering it is only 90 minutes it felt like double that.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 8:09am

Another show I really enjoyed that the collective is gonna hate lol

Updated On: 5/21/23 at 08:09 AM

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 9:49am

Saw this last night and absolutely loved it. I love shows where the events of the show aren’t super dramatic or crazy, but you are just as invested in the “quieter” events of life - an example in the case of this show: the lead character winning an award at work. I cared about this character so much, I wanted him to win that award SO BADLY. It feels true to life and, in that fact, becomes very moving.

I agree with Jordan - how this play displays aspects of loneliness and mental illness rings very true and is extremely moving.

I thought the cast was uniformly excellent. Harper was so endearing and so natural, I cared about Kenneth immediately.

This is certainly one of my top recommendations for shows playing right now.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 6:59pm

I didn't hate it, but I mostly agree with the other negative comments.  I think it's a cute play, it's just too mushy for my taste.  I didn't understand the bell either.  Him crying at the end is what I think is confusing people.  He was doing well in life, the last line that he repeated a few times seemed ambiguous.  If you wanna see a great play with similar themes, head over the Playwrights Horizons and get a ticket to Wet Brain.

[heybaby]

Posted: 5/22/23 at 3:19pm

It's a fabulous production of a brilliant play. See it. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/25/23 at 10:12pm

NYT Critics Pick from Naveen Kumar

‘Primary Trust’ Review: Sipping Mai Tais, Until Bitter Reality Knocks

In Eboni Booth’s new play, William Jackson Harper performs with astonishing vulnerability as a man alone and adrift.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/theater/primary-trust-review.html

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/25/23 at 10:17pm

Rave from Daily Beast

Review: ‘Primary Trust’ Is One of NYC’s Best New Plays, Mai Tais Included

https://www.thedailybeast.com/review-primary-trust-is-one-of-new-yorks-best-new-plays-mai-tais-included?ref=home

The Wrap is positive

https://www.thewrap.com/primary-trust-off-broadway-review-william-jackson-harper/

Two four star reviews from NY Stage Review

https://nystagereview.com/2023/05/25/primary-trust-cheers-to-new-beginnings/

https://nystagereview.com/2023/05/25/primary-trust-youve-got-a-friend/

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/25/23 at 10:36pm

Very happy to see these reviews. 

[RagtimeRevivalPlease]

Posted: 5/30/23 at 11:42am

I looked for this thread after seeing this past Sunday's performance to rave about how much I liked it - and am a little sad to see some of the negative reactions here. Glad to see it's getting positive reviews though.

It's a very quiet piece - there's not a lot of rising and falling action in terms of plot; instead, everything is about the main character. This is definitely a play that can live and die by whoever's playing Kenneth. Luckily, William Jackson Harper is phenomenal.

Its focus is moving on from grief, accepting change, and learning to connect, and I guess its conclusion on those themes really resonated with me. If that makes me overly sentimental then *shrugs*. 

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 6/1/23 at 10:53am

I really, really liked this. I wasn't totally in love with it, but what makes it worth seeing more than anything is that cast. April Mathis may be one of the finest stage actors we have working today. And William Jackson Harper demonstrates (yet again, I know he's no stage novice) that he is more than capable of holding a show together with sincerity and dramatic depth. I'm hopeful the right piece comes along for him to showcase this on the main stem...time for a Radio Golf revival?

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 6/2/23 at 9:40am

There’s a rave review from Charles Isherwood in today’s Wall Street Journal. It’s behind a paywall, but this will give you an idea:  “Ms. Booth’s writing has a clarity, simplicity and bloom that are increasingly rare in contemporary plays … thanks to the humanity that suffuses the entire production, there isn’t a trace of the artifice that could tip the play into saccharine territory. It’s a moving story, clearly and effectively told, only startling because such plays have become virtual unicorns.”