SpeakEasy’s ‘Primary Trust’ a Warm Bath of Compassion

September 24, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Arthur Gomez and David J. Castillo in Speakeasy’s “Primary Trust”.
Photos by Benjamin Rose

SpeakEasy Stage presents ‘Primary Trust.’ Written by Eboni Booth. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Scenic Design by Shelley Barish. Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl. Sound Design by Anna Drummond. At the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood/BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through October 11, 2025.

By Linda Chin

Trust me – SpeakEasy Stage’s production of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Primary Trust by Eboni Booth is a warm bath worth indulging in. For 100 minutes without intermission, expect to be immersed in a sweet and uplifting story told by a fabulous four-person cast and deftly directed by Dawn M. Simmons.

Set in the small fictional town of Cranberry, New York, Primary Trust centers on Kenneth (played to perfection by David J. Castillo), an emotionally reserved 38-year-old man whose simple, quiet, relatively isolated life routine – working in a bookstore, going to happy hours at Wally’s, the local tiki bar – is suddenly upended.

SpeakEasy’s Outstanding ‘Primary Trust’ Simmers Slowly Until It Boils Over

September 21, 2025September 22, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

David J. Castillo, Luis Negrón and Arthur Gomez in Speakeasy’s “Primary Trust”.
Photos by Benjamin Rose

‘Primary Trust’ — Written by Eboni Booth. Directed by Dawn Simmons. Scenic Design by Shelley Barish; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through October 11.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Like homesickness and old age, some things just “creep up” on us. A feeling that might start suddenly and imperceptibly, the sensation gradually builds until reaching a tipping point, after which we are acutely aware of and significantly affected by it.

Such is the case with SpeakEasy’s first production of the 2025/2026 season, Primary Trust, now enjoying a long run through October 11 (so there’s plenty of time to catch this gem).

Theater Mirror’s Kilian Melloy Talks with New Speakeasy Artistic Director Dawn Simmons on Her New Role and “Primary Trust”

September 4, 2025September 4, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Dawn Simmons (R) directs Arthur Gomez and David Castillo in “Primary Trust”

By Killian Melloy

“But that’s another story.”

It’s a line of dialogue Kenneth, the main character and narrator of “Primary Trust,” uses often. Kenneth has been through a lot, and he touches on painful memories only glancingly, leaving it to the audience to try to imagine what he’s not saying. One of only a few Black people in the mostly white town of Cranberry, New York, Kenneth has endured the occasional brush with racism; he’s also someone who grew up in an orphanage. We can’t tell what’s going on in his mind, except for the inferences he makes, the way he sometimes has to put himself on hold and count in order to stay grounded, and what he reveals through his fourth wall-breaking asides and his conversations with his best friend, Bert, and Corrina, a waitress with whom he starts to become friendly.