PRIMARY TRUST Comes to Philadelphia Theatre Company

Beginning September 19, Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) will open its 51st season with the Philadelphia premiere of Primary Trust, the play by 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eboni Booth that earned widespread critical praise for its 2023 Off-Broadway world premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company, where it was heralded as one of the year's most affecting new American plays. The PTC production is helmed by Amina Robinson, a two-time Barrymore Award winner and Associate Professor of Acting and Musical Theater at Temple University, whose directing credits span Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Theatre Horizon, Lantern Theater Company, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, as well as productions in Los Angeles and New York. Robinson, celebrated for her ability to craft intimate, emotionally resonant performances, brings her distinct vision to Booth's tender and wry exploration of how connection can change a life. The production, featuring an all Philadelphia-based cast, runs from September 19 to October 5 at PTC's Suzanne Roberts Theatre.

With warmth, wit, and compassion, Primary Trust follows Kenneth, a gentle soul who's spent two decades working at a used bookstore and enjoying happy hours at the local tiki bar with his closest companion Bert, who exists only in his imagination. When the bookstore closes, Kenneth must navigate finding a new job and build relationships with real-life people. In Booth's masterfully observed portrait of small-town life, change comes in the form of a bank teller position, a friendly waiter, and the possibility that even the most solitary among us can start again.

"Primary Trust is a story about the courage it takes to be seen," says PTC Co-Artistic Director Tyler Dobrowsky. "Eboni Booth's writing is full of warmth and humanity. It's funny and moving in equal measure, and under Amina Robinson's direction, this play will resonate with anyone who's ever had to start over."

Praised by the Los Angeles Times for being “As tenderhearted as it is spryly comic and as poignant as it is ultimately uplifting,” Booth's play is both a quirky comedy and a poignant reminder that we all need someone in our corner, even if they're only in our head.

The PTC production of Primary Trust stars Akeem Davis (Choir Boy at PTC, Barrymore Award winner, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play in A Doll's House at Arden Theatre Company) as Bert, and PTC newcomers Newton Buchanan as Kenneth, Taysha Marie Canales (2018 F. Otto Haas Emerging Theatre Artist and three-time Barrymore Award-nominee) as Corrina/Wally's Waiter/Bank Customers, and David Ingram (Hope and Gravity at 1812 Productions) as Clay/Sam/Le Pousselet Bartender.

The creative team includes David P. Gordon (Scenic Designer), Liudi Wang (Costume Designer), Aly Docherty (Lighting Designer), Larry Fowler (Sound Designer), and Jamel Baker (Stage Manager).

As part of its commitment to education and Philadelphia's young people, PTC will present a student matinee of Primary Trust at 10:30 a.m. on September 30. In advance of the performance, PTC teaching artists will lead free in-school workshops to help prepare students for the production. For more information about PTC's education programs, visit the PTC website or email education@philatheatreco.org.