“Primary Trust" at Riverside Theatre -- February 27 through March 15.
Friday, February 27, through Sunday, March 15
Riverside Theatre, 119 East College Street, Iowa City IA
The recipient of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama that, according to Intermission magazine, "cuts to the heart with a simply constructed story, understated humor, and dialogue unburdened by purple prose," playwright Eboni Booth's Primary Trust makes its Iowa City debut at Riverside Theatre February 27 through March 15, the work also hailed by The Daily Beast as "beautifully written" and "a 95-minute, intermissionless, buffed-to-gleaming jewel.”
Booth's critically acclaimed Primary Trust tells the heartwarming story of Kenneth, a 30-something man working in a small town at a small bookstore, who spends his evenings drinking mai-tais at a Tiki bar – and chatting with his imaginary friend. When the bookstore closes, Kenneth embarks on a journey of self-discovery and lands a job at the local bank, where he finds the kind of real connections that have always eluded him. Author Booth is a writer and actor from New York City whose play Paris had its premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company. Eboni is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a recipient of a Steinberg Playwright Award, a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, and a John Gassner award, as well as a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program and the University of Vermont.
Directing Iowa City's debut of Primary Trust is longtime Riverside Theatre veteran Saffron Henke, who has also guest directed locally for Augustana College's productions of Metamorphoses and The Bock Eye, and St. Ambrose University's Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Meenakshi Chinmai serves as the show's stage manager, with additional members of the Primary Trust creative team including: scenic designer Kaelen Novak; costume designer Stephanie Nguyen; lighting designer Lauren Duffie; sound designer Barrington Vaxter; props designer Stephen Polchert; assistant director Jeremy Mims; assistant stage manager Brody Butler; and board operator Hannah Green. Randyu Jackson-Alvarenca, meanwhile, plays protagonist Kenneth, with the rest of the gifted ensemble composed of Tad Paulson, Zafyre Sexton, and Barrington Vaxter.
Primary Trust runs in Iowa City from February 27 through March 15, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There will be a talkback with the performers hosted by Miriam Gilbert following the Sunday, March 1 matinee performance; the event is free, and you do not need to attend that day’s performance to attend the talkback. General admission is $18-42, and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)259-7099 and visiting RiversideTheatre.org.
