Review: PRIMARY TRUST by Austin Playhouse
by Michael Meigs

 

It's apt that this modern adult fairy tale should have won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for drama, announced on May 6. It was the best of times, about a month before Joe Biden faltered in his first and only debate with Donald Trump. The United States, at least the urban United States, was ready for an ingenious, firsthand account from a gentle Black man of friendship, imagination, and small but life-changing successes.

 

The Pulitzer Committee summarized it well:

 

A simple and elegantly crafted story of an emotionally damaged man who finds a new job, new friends and a new sense of worth, illustrating how small acts of kindness can change a person’s life and enrich an entire community.

 

Thanks to Austin Playhouse for getting the rights, for in this worst of times our town needs a gentle tonic, much as Kenneth, the protagonist portrayed by Robert Joseph, needed his mai-tai drinks at the Tiki Lounge every day after work. With Robert, his friend and solace, played with engaging cheerfulness by Austin favorite Mark Pouhé.

 

 

We meet Kenneth before a cartoon townscape. WIth its simplicity, colors, and labels, Mike Toner's design reminds one of welcome backgrounds such as, for example, that of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Stage right stands a minimalist but very effective depiction of Wally's, the sort of pseudo-Polynesian tiki bar that was popular in the last half of the twentieth century and may well have lingered on in backwater places such as Kenneth's fictional home of Cranberry, New York  (population 15,000, with a sign out on the highway announcing Welcome, friend, you're right on time).

 

Kenneth narrates his own story in simple words. Robert Joseph's even voice, contained demanor, and deprecating presence are those of a Charlie Brown, if that favorite anti-hero happened to be bearded and Black. Our protagonist, from a foster home, has worked for fifteen years at Sam's used book shop (gruff proprietor of the same name played by Huck Huckaby).

 

Kenneth has spent every evening of all that time at the table in the back corner of the tiki bar. He lingers over mai-tais until closing time, listening to the live muzak played by live musician James Davery (almost invisible behind bar and keyboard) and ordering his drinks two at a time. Kenneth's friend Robert accompanies him, always with a cheery smile and good counsel. Mark Novick uses subtle hues of purple and magenta to reinforce the boozy setting.  

 

Kenneth addresses the audience directly. A chime sounds each time the focus shifts from first person narrative to scenes enacted to illustrate the story. The move from tell to tale is magic. It establlishes an enticing, participatory sense of make believe.

 

The precipitating event is chain smoker Sam's regretful announcement that he's closing the shop to retire to Arizona, where the climate's better for him and his wife. Kenneth will have to find a different job. 

 

 

Back at Wally's, the drinking pals mull this over—Kenneth fretful, Robert full of optimism. Apparently the tiki bar has trouble keeping staff; in comic and inventive variations, Vivian Noble portrays a sucession of them. One out of that multiple waitstaff, the shy Corinna who wears a flower over one ear, mentions that local banking institution Primary Trust is hiring.

 

And there it is, slipped into the story, the theme of the piece. Kenneth's a sweet, good man with no real, close friend he can trust. In the sequence deftly directed by Ben Wolfe in this ninety-minute piece, Kenneth will face his dilemma, take that interview, get that job, find new skills, and confront his loneliness. Robert's coaching will help but eventually Robert, too, will fail him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brava to Vivian Noble. In last year's Fat Ham she appeared as a sardonic Goth girl surrounded by a crazy family. In Primary Trust she's a delight of multiple identities and fast comic shifts, playing not only all those wait staffers male and female but also  the succession of remakably different bank customers who become challenges and opportunities for Kenneth. Particularly memorable are her swiveling quick changes to flash before us a dozen Wally waiters in sucession, each time grabbing and donning a prop from a stagehand speeding across the playing space. She even makes and rejects a pass at herself, with the aid of that appearing-and-disappearing mustache.

 

Noble, a graduate of Texas State, is in good position to make a memorable career on Austin stages just as Pouhé has done. That is, if we're fortunate enough to keep her in our theatrcal biosphere.

 

Playwright Eboni Booth gives us a heartening story with a believable ending, adroitly avoiding the phony happy-ever-after tie-ups typical of, say, Hallmark Christmas movies.

 

This piece has legs and will last long. Regional theatres across the country have already performed it, including the Alley Theatre in Houston and the Dallas Theatre Center. 

 

Because we all need good news.

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Primary Trust
by Eboni Booth
Austin Playhouse

September 11–October 4, 2026

Thurs – Sat at 7:30 p.m. | Sun at 2:00 p.m.

Austin Playhouse (West Campus location) | 405 West 22^nd St. | Austin TX 78705

Tickets start at $38 with Pick-Your-Price Thursdays at $26 and Half-Price Student Tickets. Group discounts are available for parties of 10+. Group inquiries can be made atboxoffice@austinplayhouse.com. Single tickets on sale now at austinplayhouse.com/primarytrust.

Free street parking is available with paid parking conveniently located one block away at the UT Co-Op Parking Garage at 2214 San Antonio St. Reserved parking is available through SpotHero. More information on parking options can be found at austinplayhouse.com/directions