How you believe examinations of mental illness should be framed will undoubtedly affect the pull that Eboni Booth’s 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning, Primary Trust, has on you.
Are psychological struggles a weighty matter that demands deep inspection and seriousness? Or can they be given their due with gentle, easy-going comedy and a cursory glance?
Booth is of the camp trusting that lightness is the road into understanding, no matter the horror of the struggle.
Kenneth (a loveable Stanley Andrew Jackson) is a sweet but socially awkward thirty-eight year-old-man. His problems stem from his mother’s death when he was just a boy, a horrific loss that’s left him anxiety-ridden, isolated and employing delusional coping mechanisms as well as a lot of alcohol to help him function in the world he finds himself.
That world is small-town suburban Rochester, just 15,000 people in total. That Kenneth is black in a predominantly white place gets mentioned as a possible source of stress, but then is tossed away, never to be further explored.
Also mentioned briefly are the multiple foster homes Kenneth endured after his mother’s passing. What happened in them or how it shaped his development isn’t part of Booth’s plan for this show. She wants us to know Kenneth’s situation was bad, but lingering on it isn’t what she’s after—not when there is progress and hope on the menu, not when we can laugh to get there instead of crying.
Kenneth is doing alright-ish when we meet him. For 20 years, he’s worked in a bookstore owned by a cantankerously caring man named Clay (ideally played by Chris Hutchinson). But more heartbreak comes Kenneth’s way when Clay has to sell the shop to take care of his health.
Originally placed at the bookstore by a social worker, Kenneth is at a loss for how to job hunt or where he might fit in and find a workplace he feels safe in.
Outside of the bookstore, the only place Kenneth ever feels at home is Wally’s, a tiki bar he visits nightly, downing several too many mai tais while chatting with his only friend, Bert (tenderly played by David Rainey). There’s just one thing – Bert isn’t real. He’s an imaginary friend Kenneth has made up as a kind of human support blanket, helping him cope with anxiety attacks, pumping up his confidence and generally cheerleading his life forward.
Yes, Kenneth speaks aloud to him in public, a habit that others find strange and not exactly helpful in a job situation.
More than once Kenneth mentions that he’s not a religious man, he doesn’t believe in heaven or hell, but he does believe in the power of friendship. Booth gives Bert as Kenneth’s first friend, but then brings other, non-imaginary friends into his life to help him move beyond his illness.
One of the waiters Kenneth meets at Wally’s, Corrina (the always thoughtful Michelle Elaine), tips Kenneth off to a job at the Primary Trust bank (no doubt pun intended in that name). Their friendship takes hold and provides some truly touching moments.
Less satisfying is Kenneth’s relationship with his ex-football playing, tequila drinking boss at the bank (Chris Hutchinson again), who conveniently has a brother with brain damage, thus understanding some of Kenneth’s limitations and behavior issues.
And then there is the endless parade of farcical characters Booth throws in for comic effect. The dozen or so Wally’s waiters with different accents peddling drink and food specials and the various bank clients asking for Kenneth’s help (all played with panache by Michelle Elaine) swirl around like a parade of short skits landing base laughs.
The less isolated Kenneth becomes and the more his friendships turn from the imaginary to the real, Booth aims to show that his healing begins. Therapy be damned, all you need are good people in your life.
It’s both an endearing and utterly simplistic notion—true but not the whole truth. With this lovely cast and lively direction by Niegel Smith, it’s easy to root for Kenneth and feel the warm fuzzies as he flourishes.
In describing his feelings for Bert, Kenneth says that his love for him is “Pure, simple and steady as the moon.” It’s a good description of the show itself: uncomplicated by too many details and focused on the positive.
Whether that’s enough or more than enough when it comes to a show about mental illness is up to you.
Primary Trust continues through May 25 at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas. For more information, call 713-220-5700 or visit alleytheatre.org. $53-$61.
Related Stories
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
