By Jarice Hanson
For the Valley Advocate
Tom Hanks knows a thing or two about good stories
Tom Hanks is often quoted as having said: “The best stories are always about loneliness.” After seeing the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Primary Trust” at Barrington Stage Company’s intimate St. Germaine stage, I agree with Tom. While the show closed Oct. 13, I can’t stop thinking about the performances, the structure of the show, and the impeccable timing of Artistic Director Alan Paul’s placement of the show as the final performance of BSC’s 30th anniversary season.
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After seeing the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Primary Trust” at Barrington Stage Company’s intimate St. Germaine stage, I can’t stop thinking about the performances, the structure of the show, and the impeccable timing of Artistic Director Alan Paul’s placement of the show as the final performance of BSC’s 30th anniversary season.
Playwright Eboni Booth originally began drafting the play as a class assignment in 2019 while a student at Juilliard, and undoubtedly the pandemic fueled this story that is ultimately about loneliness and isolation. When announcing that “Primary Trust” won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the board described the content of the play as: “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.”
The story focuses on Kenneth, a bookstore worker in a fictional small town of Cranberry, New York. The playbill describes the time as “before smartphones.” Kenneth leads a simple life and frequents Wally’s — a bar known for its “two Mai-Tai special” — where he and his best friend Bert share drinks and chat about anything and everything. What transpires is a beautifully unfolding story of Kenneth’s life — told not with exposition, but by the breadcrumbs that emerge as we meet some of the other people in his life. The messages are clear, but we, the audience, do the work of piecing them together. When the audience becomes so involved in uncovering the story, the bond between actors and audience is magic.
In the BSC production, Justin Weaks turned in a bravura performance as Kenneth, the 38 year old protagonist. Weaks’ command of the character showed an emotional depth and sense of physicality and consistency that made him a sympathetic character that touched the audience’s hearts and minds. Kyle Haden as Bert, his best friend, is everything a best friend should be — but one question that gives you a hint about where the story goes, asks — “is Bert real?”
Hilary Ward played a wide range of characters with split-second timing and some hilarious interpretations of the range of female (and occasionally male) characters who come and go throughout Kenneth’s life. C. David Johnson also played multiple characters effectively, from the bookstore owner to bartender, and effortlessly shifted back and forth as the bank manager where Kenneth ultimately gets a job. Director Jennifer Chang guided her cast through an intricate, delicately nuanced telling of a story that is becoming more familiar in American culture.
I’ve written in past Theater Matters columns how many theaters have responded to the need of making theater socially responsible. In post-pandemic times, loneliness and isolation has, in the words of Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, become, “an epidemic.” Barrington Stage Co. has highlighted the growing problem of isolation in America by offering a number of performances for school children to identify the issues that contribute to a person’s loss of community and the emotional impact of loneliness.
Though the BSC production has recently closed, you can expect to see versions of this play for a long time to come. Eboni Booth has done what great playwrights do — she’s found the pulse of a time in history and has guaranteed that this play, even more than some Pulitzer Prize winners, will rise to become one of the most important plays of the decade.
You don’t have to be Irish to tell a good story … but it helps
Another play that relies on loneliness as a major theme is the wonderful production of “The Weir,” which closed Oct. 18 at the Unicorn Theatre, part of the Berkshire Theatre Group. Though quintessentially “Irish” in its telling, the play has been successful in countries around the world.
Conor McPherson’s earie collection of folktale-like stories won the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, and has made it onto many critics’ “Greatest Plays” lists. In a poll conducted by the Royal National Theatre of London, it was voted one of the 100 most significant plays of the 20th century.
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“The Weir,” which closed Oct. 18 at the Unicorn Theatre, part of the Berkshire Theatre Group, won the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, and has made it onto many critics’ “Greatest Plays” lists. In a poll conducted by the Royal National Theatre of London, it was voted one of the 100 most significant plays of the 20th century.
The premise of the story is simple. In a rural pub in County Leitrim, locals gather to drink and tell each other stories, each trying to top the others. Of course, it is a dark and stormy night. Four men speculate why a new woman has come to the town that seems to have little to offer to her. When local estate agent Finbar shows up with the woman in question, stories escalate until we learn that the woman has the most touching story of all, because it is real.
Director Eric Hill orchestrates the pacing and level of implied drunkenness with a guiding hand that allows each actor a moment to shine. Sean Bridgers as Jack is the first to arrive. Clearly, he’s a regular, and he helps himself to his chosen beverage before the bartender, Brendan, played by Philip Themio Stoddard, arrives. Next to appear is Jim, played by the brilliant Joey Collins, an actor who has dynamic physical and vocal skill. When Collins delivers his wild tale of a night in a cemetery, the tale is so believable, the characters he talks about come alive.
Finbar, played by Harry Smith, is the married estate agent who squires Valerie, the new woman in town, to her rented house. Valerie is played by Stephanie Jean Lane, whose own story of how and why she ended up in County Leitrim is so powerfully sad, the men can’t help but change the way they talk and think about her. She becomes one of them — a wounded soul, looking for an escape from loneliness that resulted from traumatic experience.
It has long been said that the Irish are among some of the best storytellers in the world, and in “The Weir,” set at a time before cellphones and social media, the act of telling the story with words and gestures exemplifies what makes theater matter.
Chances to experience the magic of live theater
While some of the traditional summer theater offerings are leaving audiences with great memories of outstanding shows this past summer, the opportunity to collectively participate in live theater performances is anything but over.
The innovative WAM Theater in Lenox opened “Galileo’s Daughter” last weekend, but there are still plenty of opportunities to see the show, either at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre in Lenox through Nov. 3, or at Central Square Theatre in Cambridge through November. The co-production with Central Square is by the noted playwright Jessica Dickey, and directed by the very creative Reena Dutt. The story focuses on the relationship between the famous scientist and his eldest daughter, and combines science, technology, human interest and familial relationships.
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The innovative WAM Theater in Lenox opened “Galileo’s Daughter” last weekend, but there are still plenty of opportunities to see the show, either at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre in Lenox through Nov. 3, or at Central Square Theatre in Cambridge through November.
West Springfield’s Majestic Theater recently closed it’s uproarious comedy, “Sheer Madness.” to make way for Eugene O’Neill’s classic, “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” that runs from Oct. 24 through Dec. 1.
Finally, every theater company has to plan far ahead to do what they do. The new Easthampton Community Theater will be holding auditions for the March 2025 production of “On Golden Pond,” Nov.12 and 13 (callbacks on Nov. 20). All roles are open, and those wishing to make an appointment can access the form to sign up for an audition slot at the link provided on the Easthampton Community Theater’s website: https://easthamptontheater.com/current-auditions.
