European Première
Director: Matthew Xia
“This is the story of friendship. A story of love and balance and time. And the smallest of chances.”
Kenneth lives in a small town in upstate New York. For 15 years his life has been the same: by day, he works at the bookstore, in the evening, he drinks mai tais with his friend Bert. When the bookstore shuts down, Kenneth is forced out of his comfort zone to face a world he has long avoided.
The Donmar presents the European premiere of this New York Times Critic’s Pick hit by award-winning writer Eboni Booth, directed by Olivier Award-winner Matthew Xia. Primary Trust is an absorbing and funny story about having the courage to change.
Eboni Booth is a writer and actress from New York City. Her play Paris had its première at the Atlantic Theater Company. Her work has been developed with Cape Cod Theater Project, Ojai Playwrights Conference, WP Theater, Two River Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and Northern Stage. As an actress, Booth has appeared in productions at Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, WP Theater, Page 73, Soho Rep. She is a recipient of a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, and a graduate of the University of Vermont and Juilliard’s playwriting programme.
Matthew Xia is the award-winning Artistic Director of ATC (Actors Touring Company). He was previously Associate Artistic Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, (where he established OPEN EXCHANGE, an artist development scheme for over 400 next generation theatre-makers); Director-in-Residence at the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; Associate Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East; Associate Artist at the Nottingham Playhouse, as well as a founding member of Act for Change.
For theatre, his directing credits include the Olivier Award winning Hey Duggee – The Live Theatre Show (Kenny Wax Family Entertainment/Cuffe & Taylor), the Fringe First award-winning Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen (FMP/Roundabout and Bush Theatre), Rice (ATC/Orange Tree), The Wiz (Ameena Hamid Productions/Hope Mill/BBC Big Night of Musicals), Family Tree (GDIF/ATC), 846 Live (Theatre Royal Stratford East/GDIF), Amsterdam (ATC/Orange Tree/Plymouth Theatre Royal), Blood Knot (Orange Tree), Eden (Hampstead Theatre), One Night In Miami… (Nottingham Playhouse/Bristol Old Vic/HOME), Into The Woods, Frankenstein (Royal Exchange Theatre), Wish List (Royal Exchange Theatre/Royal Court), Shebeen (Nottingham Playhouse/Theatre Royal Stratford East), Sleeping Beauty (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Dublin Carol (Sherman Theatre), Blue/Orange, The Sound of Yellow (Young Vic), Sizwe Banzi is Dead (Genesis Future Director Award Winner – Young Vic/Eclipse), The Blacks (CoDirector, Theatre Royal Stratford East), I Was Looking at The Ceiling and Then I Saw The Sky (Co-Director, Theatre Royal Stratford East/The Barbican) and Suckerpunch Boom Suite (The Barbican/NitroBEAT).
