Primary Trust at the Contemporary Arts Center through May 24
Heading over to the Contemporary Arts Center to see Crescent City Stage’s production of Primary Trust, I knew very little about it other than that it had won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2024.
I wondered if it would be like such previous Pulitzer winners as Fat Ham and the recently anointed Liberation, both indisputably worthy of the honor. Or might it be more like Cost of Living and, to a lesser extent, English, two plays that had me questioning the Pulitzer committee’s logic.
I am thus extremely pleased to report that Trust aligns with the former two and that Eboni Booth richly deserved the accolade for her haunting, ruminative work about how one damaged man confronts the world.
Set in a suburb of Rochester, NY, Michael A. Newcomer’s pitch perfect production creates a world of both small town community and isolation, a place where people may recognize others but don’t always know them.
We’re introduced to Kenneth at the start. Or rather, he introduces himself to us, getting the necessary exposition out of the way. He’s 38 and has worked at a bookstore for 20 years. The bookstore is closing, however, due to the owner’s imminent retirement and move to Arizona with his wife. Kenneth likes to go to Wally’s, a tiki bar, for mai tais; in fact, he goes there pretty much every day for its Happy Hour and sometimes has one, or two, too many mai tais.
And that’s all I’m going to say about the plot. Sure, a major reveal occurs only about 10 minutes into the play, so talking about it would hardly be a spoiler, but I want you to experience the surprise, and joy, as I did, of seeing a playwright take such a daring chance with her story.
A story, though, is not what makes Primary Trust special. Not much happens in its 95 minutes. Or rather, a lot happens, but so subtly that it could be summed up in a sentence…or 10 pages. The script is both very realistic and intriguingly surreal. Booth strikes a lovely note with her writing but, after a while, it seems to be only one note. Yet Booth, almost miraculously, keeps her tale afloat. A couple of times in the course of the play I looked at my watch, wondering when something was going to happen. It’s not that kind of play, however; rather, it’s a gentler, more meditative one. Melancholic, perhaps. Charming, certainly. And laudably interesting in its concept and the turns its plot takes, a must-see for anyone who’s curious about the state of American drama.
As Kenneth, Jarrod Smith gives an outstanding, precisely calibrated performance, so ingenuous and decent, in this intimate portrait of a simple yet complex soul. Booth provides much to chew over after the curtain has come down (yeah!), but it might defeat the purpose of her artistry to try to analyze Kenneth too much. By avoiding any grandstanding and asking us to accept this “common man” on his own terms, Smith ensures that, as was called for in another Pulitzer winner, “attention must be paid”.
Doug Spearman plays Bert, Kenneth’s best friend, the type of part that’s been seen in countless plays and movies. Things are not as they initially seem in Trust, however, and Spearman, like Smith, achieves such a finely tuned performance that one wonders if there could be any other way to play this role.
Nicole Collins is not only refreshingly captivating as a young woman who enters Kenneth’s life, but, playing a bunch of other servers at Wally’s, limns each of them with such precision that we instantly discern each one’s age, sex, and entire attitude. It’s the first time I’ve seen Collins, who’s worked mostly in films; I hope it won’t be the last.
Jarrod Smith, Nicole Collins, Doug Spearman, and Steve Gilliland in Primary Trust (photo by Brittney Werner)
Mark Cosby portrays, with utmost decency, Kenneth’s bosses, two very different personalities, yet who are each the type of boss most audience members would wish they had. Steve Gilliland rounds out the cast as the keyboard player at Wally’s who provides the production with its soundtrack of mellow tunes.
In addition to his marvelous direction, Newcomer created the scenic design. I did a little googling and it seems that other productions of Trust have had slightly more extensive scenery. So be it. Newcomer’s simple approach, a couple of flats and some rollaway set pieces, appropriately gives this Trust the aura of a dream. Adachi Pimentel’s precise lighting admirably adds to that sense.
Yes, Trust employs a kinda manufactured crisis. And, yes, one plot point pushes credulity a little. But that’s what suspension of disbelief in unreality is for.
In the past, I’ve occasionally questioned Crescent City Stage’s selection of plays. Not this time. Trust me, make it a primary goal of yours to see Primary Trust before it closes on May 24.
[For tickets and further information, go to https://www.crescentcitystage.com/]
God of Carnage at Le Petit Theatre through May 17
Unlike Primary Trust, I approached Le Petit for its production of the Tony Award-winning God of Carnage familiar with the show, having seen its Broadway debut in 2009, and its two previous productions here. I’ve always enjoyed Yasmina Reza’s comedy of bad manners in which two Brooklyn couples meet to resolve a playground altercation between their two eleven-year-old boys. At first, diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the discussion progresses, the liquor flows, tensions emerge, and the gloves come off as Reza asks “How ‘civilized’ are we, really?”
The question here was how would two local actors, Marie Lovejoy and Joshua Mark Sienkiewicz, neither of whom I’d seen in major roles for a while, playing one of couples, hold up against Tony nominee Conrad (Oh, Mary!) Ricamora and Orange Is the New Black alum Julia Lake, playing the other couple.
The answer? Very well indeed, thank you very much.
In fact, Lovejoy proves to be first among equals, not unlike Broadway where all four cast members were nominated for a Tony but only Marcia Gay Harden, as Veronica, won one. Yes, Veronica is a slightly meatier role than the other three, but Lovejoy terrifically finds the exact balance that the script necessitates between realism and a heightened comic sense, not an easy task to accomplish.
Watch as Lovejoy starts out utterly reasonable, list in hand of items to negotiate regarding an apology from the other couple on behalf of their son, and then reveals Veronica to be, by turns, petty, lusty, overly emotional and a host of other adjectives that I didn’t have a chance to write down because I was enjoying her performance so much.
Lovejoy is well-matched by Lake whose Annette is not as mousy as other actresses’ have been, giving her more agency in her actions.
Along with Sienkiewicz as the boorish Michael and Ricamora as the high-powered lawyer Alan, all four are equally shmucky at times, as befits their characters, and what fun it is to see them negotiate so well the shifting alliances among these deliciously flawed people.
Conrad Ricamora, Joshua Mark Sienkiewicz, Marie Lovejoy, and Julia Lake in God of Carnage
Ricamora, in his tailored suit, at first seemed too stylish for his insensitive actions, like rubbing fallen bits of food into the carpet, but eventually demonstrates that he’s smarter, or more insightful, than he at first appears.
Christopher Hampton’s translation has held up pretty well, cell phone jokes included, though nowadays Alan would probably be barking orders into his Apple watch.
Director A.J. Allegra builds the script’s momentum beautifully and then, when things calm down and you think everything’s settled, he builds it up again after a stray remark has caused sparks to fly anew. If, at times, this God is a little broad (and bravo to the cast for embracing the physical comedy so wholeheartedly), there are also wonderfully subtle moments. And if a line here or an action there doesn’t make entire sense, it all goes by too fast before you have a chance to quibble as the cast rides this roller coaster of a play magnificently.
Yalani Warren’s upscale costumes nicely define the four characters. Bethany Lee’s chic living room set is surrounded by rocky outcroppings suggesting that we have not evolved too much from our caveman, and cavewoman, ancestors.
In the center of the set, a sculptured slab rises to the ceiling with a video screen on it and Allegra, assisted by Bruno Doria’s projection design, leaves us with an image of Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son”, one of the most disturbing paintings ever created. Two hundred years later, it’s an all too apt commentary on our current times.
[For more information and tickets, go to https://www.lepetittheatre.com/events/god-of-carnage]
