Primary Trust at Signature Theatre has one of the happiest endings ever. As in It’s a Wonderful Life kind of happy. I have some suggestions for how to prepare for attending this show. Bring tissues. Bring a sense of humor. And since the protagonist, Kenneth, says several times over the course of the play: “I don’t really believe in God or heaven or hell, but I do believe in friends,” I suggest that you bring a friend. In 2023 the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory identifying loneliness as an epidemic in the U.S. The advisory was subtitled “The Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community.” Julius Thomas III (Kenneth) and Frank Britton (Bert) in ‘Primary Trust’ Photo by DJ Corey Photography. A governmental publication is one thing: a useful thing. But what Eboni Booth in her Pulitzer Prize–winning play Primary Trust brings to the conversation is the courage and willingness to describe and name the threat for what it is and the demeanor and patience to help us audience members face this threat in ourselves and in our communities. This can be a transformative thing. And that’s why its proper venue is the theater. Primary Trust tells the story of one person dealing with such isolation as the Surgeon General describes. Booth takes us on a journey with her protagonist’s thoughts and embeds us in his feelings as he re-evaluates the choices he made as a 10-year-old to isolate his heart and psyche for his own protection, and the gradual decision to re-emerge as a 38-year-old who is no longer helpless in the face of threats the world brings. Kenneth lives in the town of Cranberry. He has been working in the same owner-run used book store for 20 years. When he was 10 years old, Kenneth came home from school to find his mother dead. Child Protective Services arranged to have Kenneth placed in an orphanage. When the social worker he had formed an attachment to left, Kenneth felt abandoned and created a world for himself that he felt he could be safe in. Now, as an adult, every day he goes to his job at the bookstore. Then he goes to the same bar — Wally’s Tiki Bar — drinks multiple mai tais until the bartender cuts him off. The bookstore job was a placement that social services arranged. The inciting action occurs when the bookstore owner, Sam, tells Kenneth that he is selling the bookstore and moving to Arizona, thus upending Kenneth’s well-ordered life. Kenneth has no idea how to look for a new job. He has no one to talk to about his situation. Well, except for his best friend, Bert. Bert came into Kenneth’s life shortly after social services did. Bert is the perfect friend for Kenneth. Bert and Kenneth go everywhere together: to Kenneth’s job at The Yellowed Pages bookstore and to Wally’s to drink mai tais. Bert is totally a product of Kenneth’s imagination: a highly effective tool created by a child to protect himself after he had lost all trust in other people. A tool that worked for 28 years. Julius Thomas III (Kenneth) and Yesenia Iglesias (Corrina) in ‘Primary Trust’ Photo by DJ Corey Photography. Drected by Taylor Reynolds, Primary Trust is highly stylized, to better follow the non-narrative way that the psyche and heart function. Four actors play all the parts, with characters moving in and out of Kenneth’s consciousness as if they are in a play that is being put on for the benefit of both the adult Kenneth and the 10-year-old Kenneth. In fact, the town itself is very much like something out of Mr. Rogers or like a model train set that a 10-year-old might play with (scenic design by Misha Kachman). The audience is surrounded by this model town of Cranberry. Kenneth proudly takes us on a tour of the town. As he does so, the shop buildings and the landmarks that form Kenneth’s world light up — just like Kenneth does. There’s Wally’s bar, the bookstore where Kenneth works, the post office, the Primary Trust bank. What is going to happen to Kenneth? That’s the main question of this play. And there is also the question of how this town — with its slogan of “Welcome, friend. You’re right on time” — affects the reshaping Kenneth’s life? What Kenneth’s town does is, it cares. At each point in his crisis, someone in his community asks him about himself and shares some of their personal concerns with him. Corrina: When someone bumps into me, I’m like, “No, I’m sorry! Don’t hate me. I’m sorry!” Kenneth: Haha. I do that, too. Corrina: It’s nice to know I’m not alone. Primary Trust investigates how can we be humane with each other. It is a portrait of the contours of grief, trauma, and loneliness and how we can walk along with each other through these things. It asks us questions like: What is this thing we call a Community (Beloved Community, therapeutic community)? How is a Community created and maintained? And why? And what can the communities we create do? Primary Trust is also about faith in that friendship that Kenneth talks about so much. There is not a single moment in the production of Primary Trust that is not simultaneously heart-wrenching and heartwarming. Julius Thomas III (Kenneth), Frank Britton (Bert), and Craig Wallace (Clay) in ‘Primary Trust’ Photo by DJ Corey Photography. The cast uses all of its skill and energy in the service of creating a disarming and safe space for the audience to experience the terrors, rage, and tender gestures in Kenneth’s life. Julius Thomas III plays Kenneth with the confidence of someone who is a master of his craft and one who wields that craft with humility. Frank Britton as Bert holds Kenneth’s trust as warmly and reliably as a catcher’s mitt holds a baseball. Yesenia Iglesias joyfully juggles a panoply of characters for Kenneth to engage with including the humane and caring Corrina. DC theater legend Craig Wallace uses his skills to bring father/employer figures of Sam and Clay to Kenneth’s aid whenever Kenneth needs them. The process of re-emerging seems not to be a project with a beginning, middle, and end — it’s more like the rhythm of life that doesn’t stop until you die. Toward the end of the play, as Kenneth’s circle of friends begins to enlarge, he shares with the audience some of what he’s learning from his new friends on the journey: Kenneth: Denise [Corrina’s friend] came and sat with me and said that even though we will lose everything in the end, it is the finding that is important. And it is a privilege to love everything before death touches it. This is one of many such observations that Kenneth makes in the course of re-engaging with his life. You might want to bring a notebook. You might want to take notes. Running Time: Approximately 95 minutes, no intermission. Primary Trust plays through October 20, 2024, in the ARK Theatre at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA. For tickets ($40–$93) call (703) 820-9771 or purchase online. Information about ticket discounts is available here. The program for Primary Trust is online here. Closed captions are available via the GalaPro app. COVID Safety: Masks are always optional but strongly encouraged in the lobby and other public areas of the building. Face masks are required inside the performance spaces on Tuesday, September 2 at 7:30PM (Discussion Night) and Saturday, October 5 at 2PM but strongly encouraged inside the performance spaces at other performances. Signature’s COVID Safety Measures can be found here Primary Trust by Eboni Booth Directed by Taylor Reynolds