Thoughts From the Director of PRIMARY TRUST

In this interview, director Timothy Douglas delves into the creative process behind the Playhouse’s production of Primary Trust, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Eboni Booth. We explore the director's unique insights into the play's themes, the casting process and the collaborative efforts of the creative team in bringing this moving story to life.

What aspects of the play resonate with you personally?
What resonates most for me within Primary Trust is the unmentioned. Playwright Eboni Booth makes clear that the main character, Kenneth, is Black, and yet this fact is never given lip service. This, to me, is nothing short of a literary revolutionary act, for within almost every Black-centered American play I’ve directed or performed in, (a sizable number), at some point its main character gives voice to how being Black in America influences their overall journey, perception-of-self and world view — all too often influenced by a white gaze perspective. In one deft storytelling gesture, the playwright compels both the actor and audience to consider for themselves how race and culture may or may not influence the main character and play’s trajectory. This hyperawareness most definitely is a microcosmic parallel to how I experience my professional journey within the mainstream American theatre. 

Our main character, Kenneth, narrates his own story about how he lost his job at a bookstore and then found a job at a bank. What’s the reasoning or importance behind Kenneth telling and framing his own story?
 I think this device of direct address affords Kenneth a more comprehensive agency over his own story, and how he chooses to share it. Given my earlier musings on the primary identifying aspect Kenneth’s unspoken personhood, I believe by having him engage directly with the audience, it is the playwright’s considered solution for fully arresting their engagement and investment in what is essentially a small, intimate story.

Timothy Douglas

In the casting process, what qualities were you looking for in the actor who would portray Kenneth?
It was essential for me that the actor/character have the capacity to radiate a big-hearted nature that has the capacity of echoing a kind of world-weary essence. He has to be facile at walking with his often-unprotected vulnerability but do so with an unselfconsciousness, and an innate combination of grace, calm and natural wisdom.

How does the play's setting in a small town in upstate New York contribute to the overall atmosphere of the story? A northern small-town setting evokes an air of a real-time, enigmatic mysteriousness, while radiating the classic truism that everyone’s personal business tends to be known by most, though not necessarily their authentic truth. Kenneth has clearly been a staple in this town, yet very little is known about him … he manages to pull off the act of hiding in plain sight.

What role did the creative team (set designer, costume designer, lighting designer, etc.) play in shaping the overall aesthetic of the production?
Toward making visual sense of Primary Trust, which includes the theatrical conventions of being a memory play, along with having characters directly address the audience, the design process is crucial for getting the manifestation of the play just right. While the respective design disciplines of scenic, lights, costumes and sound all come at their tasks from different angles of the storytelling prism, it is critical that the team work collaboratively ensuring that the overall effects are in harmony with one another. I have worked multiple times with three of the designers on this production, with one joining our merry band for the first time. From the beginning there has been a symbiosis in our group communication, which is mainly due to just how moved by the play we all are, and how our passion toward meeting the challenge of creating an evocative and fluid physical world for the play drives us. In addition, we are charged with revealing a specific point of view so that the audiences — and characters — remain mindful in knowing exactly where we are at all times.