‘This play is so special’: Pulitzer-winning play comes to the Grand Theatre

Production of Primary Trust opens at the Grand Theatre. CTV London’s Gerry Dewan has the details.

A Pulitzer Prize winning play is the Grand Theatre’s first new production of 2026.

‘Primary Trust’ relates the story of Kenneth. Now in his late 30s, Kenneth suffered a life-altering trauma as a young man. He coped by keeping himself isolated. One unique friendship, a tiki bar, and his work at a bookstore belies the depth of his loneliness.

Everything shifts when he goes to work at the Primary Trust Bank.

“He goes from being isolated to finding community, finding himself and finding a way through the world in a world that wasn’t built for him,” explained play Director Cherissa Richards.

Richards has performed at the Grand and has directed other, smaller plays.

Primary Trust is the first play she has directed at the Grand, “Here I am directing my first real show as a director here at the Grand Theater. And it couldn’t be more exciting and fun.”

Primary Trust won playwright Eboni Booth the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

The play has been described as deeply moving, but Richards told CTV News it is filled with humour and an air of mystery, “The play is written in this beautiful way of magical realism, where everything is not as it seems, and the character of Kenneth comes out and reaches out to the audience in times.”

Kenneth is played by Durae McFarlane, making his grand theatre debut. McFarlane embraced taking Kenneth on his journey of discovery, “The struggles, the triumphs that come with that, with putting himself out there for the first time in his life and dealing with all the stuff that has stopped him from doing that in the past.”

McFarlane calls playing Kenneth a dream, “This play, I think, is so special and heartwarming and touching. And Kenneth, I think, is also all of those things. I think it’s such a great role to be in as an actor and to go through his journey is really special.”

This made-in-London production of Primary Trust will be on the Grand Theatre’s Spriet Stage until Feb. 7 and will then travel to the Crow’s Theatre in Toronto.