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When you read the words ‘Pulitzer Prize Winner’ you think about epic productions: Hamilton, A Chorus Line, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman… generation defining plays written by some of the best authors and playwrights that have ever lived.
You are unlikely to name Primary Trust in the same breath as those other mega-productions but you can because in 2024, this quiet, poignant, emotionally charged play won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama – and rightfully so. Written by Eboni Booth, Primary Trust is a compact 90-minute one-act with no intermission, featuring a small cast and a deeply relatable story.
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Primary Trust is about friendship, trauma, and living a life when you are just a little bit different. Kenneth (Durae McFarlane) is a thirtysomething Black man living a simple life in upstate New York. Having lost his mother at a young age, he grew up an orphan and at the age of 18 found himself alone in the world.
Lucky enough to find a job, with the help of a social worker, he worked as a bookkeeper and assistant in a used book store located in fictional Cranberry Lake, New York. When the owner retires, the protagonist finds himself lost because he has done nothing else but work at a job where he is understood and accepted.
The other place where he finds his ‘happy place’ is Wally’s the local Tiki Bar with cheap Mai Tais and a routine he embraces (with maybe a few too many cocktails). He frequents this kitschy bar with his best friend (and somewhat of a father figure) Bert (Peter N. Bailey) who provides emotional and everyday life support to his young friend. Their friendship is the transformative twist you didn’t see coming (I won’t spoil the surprise – you’ll need to see the play)!
Socially awkward and anxiety driven, Kenneth finds he has procured a new job and by token, makes new friends. Not one to embrace change but living life happily in known routines, this character is played brilliantly by Durae McFarlane. He is making his Grand Theatre debut after a series of theatre and TV roles. Young, fresh and able to keep the audience enthralled with his monologues and story telling, McFarlane keeps pace with the others as they swing in and out of each scene. His ability to turn on a dime (or at the sound of a bell) changes the pace and tone effectively. It is all about timing and he has this in spades.
Ryan Hollyman, played so many roles it’s hard to name them all but he was the thread that kept each scene entertaining and interesting. From indifferent bar keeper to crusty old man with a walker to over confident bank manager (reveling in his high school quarterback glory days), Hollyman’s chameleon portrayal of charactes is a joy to watch.
Each character provides a purpose, the most important being the encouraging bank manager. He peppers scenes with salty language and gestures to vent about his coworkers, but more crucially, he carves out a welcoming space where the awkward and shy Kenneth finally thrives. His character helped me buy into the belief that people can accept those that are different.
Keeping us entertained with her various interpretations of bar waitresses with different voices and personalities was Khadija Roberts-Abdullah. She quickly becomes the catalyst for change for the Kenneth, providing a job lead that would change the course of his life. The transition from a make-believe friendship with one friend to a mature one in real life, is what leads to growth and greater independence or should I say, less dependece? Roberts-Abdullah shines in this production and I await her return to the stage here or at Stratford Festival (where she was in productions of Something Rotten!, Grand Magic and Little Women).
This play is about growth, trust in others and ultimately trust in oneself. This production is also about how small actions or sounds (a bell in this case), can change the tone, or actions within the scene. We learn it is a cue the director, Cherissa Richards, uses effectively to change our attention. Asked if she thought this would be annoying to some, she noted that this was written in the play as an ‘asterisk’ for a change in the scene. It’s a shift made throughout the play. She chose to use a variety of bells to switch it up and make the cue unique, staying away from the one note of a singular bell.
Cherissa Richards, is making her directorial debut at the Grand theatre but we have seen her onstage in Fall on Your Knees and The Power of Harriet T. She also directed one of my favourite plays, Controlled Damage, but at the National Arts Center’s Theatre Neptune production in 2025. Richards’ production of Red Velvet received six Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominations, winning Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production in the General Theatre category in 2023. I certainly hope we will see her direct other productions for the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario.
Although Primary Trust does not have the splashy, big production, generation defining impact that those big time Pulitzer Prize winners for Drama have, it is still a play worth seeing. It is a poignant story about what I would consider a neurodivergent character who prevails. It spoke to my husband and I on many different levels.
The director was quick to point out that this is not necessarily a story about an Autistic adult but of someone who was deeply affected by the childhood trauma that found ways to cope. However, as a mother of a neurodivergent adult son, there was so much that I identified as an onlooker to a life lived with struggles, to fit in and make a life when you are just a little bit different. For that, I commend Eboni Booth for capturing the struggles and the triumphs of a life built on shaky ground.
What you need to know:
Dates: Primary Trust runs between January 20 and February 7, 2026
Where: The Grand Theatre Spriet Stage, Grand Theatre, London, ON
Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Ticket Prices: Tickets start at $25
Black Celebration Night
In partnership with London AfroCentric Arts Association (LACA) and London Black Heritage Council (LBHC), join the cast for a reception and artist talk after the show!
- Friday, January 30, 2026 at 8:00pm – Hosted by Vanessa Spence (Assistant Director) with special guests Durae McFarlane (Kenneth), Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah (Corrina), and Peter N. Bailey (Bert).
Pay-What-You-Can Discounted Ticket Program
I always look for ways to make the arts accessible for any budget. I encourage people to look into the Canada Life-sponsored Pay What You Can (PWYC) performances. On the first Sunday performance of any production on the Spriet Stage, the Grand Theatre reserves a minimum of 150 tickets.
Available in increments of $5, you can access a limited number of tickets online at 12:00 a.m. the day of the performance (I dislike that you are required to get tickets online at midnight, but sometimes it takes a little bit of extra effort for those who want to save). You can also stand in line an hour before the performance in person at the Grand Theatre to access the last set of tickets.
2025/26 PWYC Performance Dates
If you want to participate in this promotion, keep these dates in mind for future productions.
- Primary Trust: Sunday, January 25, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.
- Piaf/Dietrich: Sunday, February 22, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.
- Mrs Krishnan’s Party: Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.
- The Importance of Being Earnest: Sunday, March 29, 2026, at 2:00 p.m
- Come From Away: Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.
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