Primary Trust

June 26-July 13

O'Maine Studios (54 Danforth St Portland, ME 04101)

Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, PRIMARY TRUST tells the story of a solitary man on the cusp of middle-age, caught between a forceful tug from the past and the promise of new beginnings. Meet Kenneth, a 38-year-old bookstore worker, who spends his evenings sipping mai tais at the local tiki bar. When he’s suddenly laid off, Kenneth anxiously searches for a new job, while finally beginning to face a world he’s long avoided—with transformative and often comical results. PRIMARY TRUST is a touching and inventive play about new connections, old friends, and seeing the world for the first time.

By Eboni Booth

Directed by Daniel J. Bryant.

CAST & DIRECTOR

Ashanti Dwight Willaims

Bert

Bari Robinson

Kenneth

Jasmine Shanise

Corrina / Others

George Sopko

Clay/Sam

Daniel J. Bryant

Director

PLAYWRIGHT

EBONI BOOTH (she/her) is a writer and actor from New York City. Her plays include Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre) and Paris (Atlantic Theater). As an actor, Eboni has appeared in productions at Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, Manhattan Theatre Club, Ars Nova, WP Theater, Page 73, Soho Rep., Clubbed Thumb, and more. Eboni is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and the recipient of aSteinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, and a John Gassner Award. She is a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program and the University of Vermont.

PRODUCTION & STAFF

DAVE REGISTER (he/him) (Founder + Artistic Director) founded the Portland Theater Festival in 2021, and has served as Producing Artistic Director for all four company seasons. He played Jasper in the company's inaugural production of Annie Baker's The Aliens, and Ryan in last season's sold-out run of A Case For the Existence of God. Dave has appeared on Broadway in the original company of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2018 Tony Award, Best Play), and most recently in Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt (2023 Tony Award, Best Play). Other theater: Rodolpho in Ivo van Hove's A View From the Bridge (Kennedy Center and Ahmanson Theatre); world premiere of Kimberly Belflower's John Proctor is the Villain at Studio Theatre (2023 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Play); Lincoln Center Theatre Director's Lab, Classic Stage Company, Ars Nova, Westport Country Playhouse, Portland Stage. He plays Chet in the Amazon Prime television series "Fallout" (Season 2 coming December!) and stars in the Maine-based feature film "Heightened." Co-Founder of R & R Acting with Bari Robinson. MFA: Columbia University.

JENN LONDON (she/they) (Managing Director/Production Stage Manager) is incredibly grateful to work alongside this wonderful group of artists to help bring live theater to our Portland community. After graduating from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, with BAs in Theatre Arts and Philosophy/Religion, Jenn went on to manage numerous productions in multiple states including Florida, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maine. Beyond managing the Portland Theater Festival on and off the stage, Jenn spends most of their time working at Portland Stage Company as their Company Manager and Apprentice Coordinator as well as managing shows and events around the Portland area, including The Maine Playwrights Festival and Mad Horse Theatre Company productions like Women Laughing Alone With Salad and Tumacho! Jenn would like to thank this marvelous team for their dedication to this beautiful production.

PETER BLOOM (he/him) (Technical Director) Maine carpentry and design credits include Vintage Rep, Acorn Productions, Biddeford City Theater, Mad Horse Theater, PORT Opera, Portland Ballet, Maine State Ballet, Good Theater, The Originals, Dramatic Repertory Company, and three fantastic seasons with Portland Theater Festival, as well as 20-ish years as Technical Director at Cape Elizabeth High School. Peter would like to thank Dave Register and PTF for the excellent and important work they do; so happy to help bring it to life.

GERMÁN CÁRDENAS ALAMINOS (he/him) (Scenic Design) I'm from Mexico City, where I studied Architecture. After some time, I transitioned to scenic design and painting. In 2019, I joined the Theater and Dance Department at Bowdoin College. I continue to work locally in Maine for Theater at Monmouth, Portland Stage Company and OperaMaine. Bowdoin College design credits include Henry VI, Part II, Cows of War, The Wolves, A Raisin in the Sun, and Men on Boats. Other design credits include: Conscience, The Cake, Last Ship to Proxima Centauri, The Age of Bees, The Thanksgiving Play (Fall 2023 at Bates College), Sofonisba, Anthony and Cleopatra, Amphitryon, The Flying Dutchman (Merrill Auditorium), and Mr. Burns (USM). Previous designs for PTF are: Sanctuary Cityand Dry Land.

MOLLY TIEDE (they/she) (Lighting Design) Select NYC/Regional credits: you don’t have to do anything (IRT, NYC), DirectorFest (IRT NY), A View from the Bridge (Gerald Lynch), A Christmas Carol (Indiana Rep), La Traviata (VAO), Cavalleria Rusticana (BLO), Sweeney Todd, Amahl and the Night Visitors (Dayton Opera), I and You (Portland Stage) Josephine, After Live (Opera Colorado), Light and Dark, Cinderella, Pointes of View (Dayton Ballet)

Associate/Assistant: The Heiress (Broadway), Here There are Blueberries (La Jolla Playhouse, STC, NYTW, Lighting Director for Regional Tour), Too Much Sun, Can You Forgive Her, This Day Forward (Vineyard), The Lady from Dubuque, Wakey Wakey (Signature), Love, Love, Love (Roundabout), LAByrinth, George Street Playhouse, Indiana Repertory, Cleveland Playhouse, Alley Theater, Old Globe San Diego.

Opera: Juilliard, Santa Fe, Gotham Chamber, Opera Colorado, Dayton Opera.
mollytiededesign.com

SAM RAPAPORT (he/him) (Sound Design) relishes his return to the PTF team. His first involvement with the festival was in the role of KJ in The Aliens. By year two he took on sound design for Pony, followed by designs of The Thin Place and Sanctuary City. Post-Covid creative work beyond PTF spans from sound design at Maddy’s Theater to performances for Fenix Theatre and Mad Horse Theatre companies, respectively. Coming this fall you can hear more of his original design work in Season 0 of Forge Theatre Labs, wherever you get your podcasts.

PATRICE N. TROWER (she/her) (Costume Design) is the costume shop manager at Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis. She has previously costumed designed The Play That Goes Wrong and Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? at Portland Stage. She is excited to be back in Portland and working with the wonderful people at Portland Theater Fest.

JARED MONGEAU (he/him) (Props Design) is joining PTF for his fourth season after appearing onstage as Peter in Wolf Play, as Mister/Ossifer in PassOver, and as props designer for The Thin Place and Sanctuary City. He has worked mostly onstage but also offstage in various capacities with Portland Stage, Good Theater, Mad Horse Theatre Co., The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, The Theater Project, Camden Shakespeare Festival, Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble, Portland Shakespeare Co., the Maine Playwrights Festival, and PortFringe, among others. He was once a clown in the circus and is an MFA graduate from Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in CA, which took him to Bali, Indonesia, to study traditional mask carving and performance. As a musician, he toured through 16 European countries (in a very tight Volvo) and headlined on London’s West End.

SARAROSE WILLEY (she/her) (Asst. Stage Manager) is a Maine-raised theatre artist, working both on and offstage in the greater Portland area. She feels honored to be joining PTF for the first time this summer, and is eager to share this season's stories with her community. In recent years, she has had the pleasure of working with Maddy’s Theater, Fenix Theatre Co., Acorn Productions, Portland Shakespeare Co., The Theater Project, and more! She would like to thank all PTF audiences & supporters, whose contributions help make these heartfelt productions possible.

MOLLY WAGNER (she/her) (Asst. Stage Manager) is honored to join PTF this year along with so many talented artists. She is a transplant to Maine and in recent seasons has been holding curtains and pressing buttons at Lyric Music Theater (The Prom, A Christmas Carol, The Spongebob Musical), Mad Horse Theatre Company (White, Witch, The Legend of Georgia McBride), and Portland Players (Fun Home). By day, she also takes notes and makes lists at the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine. Special thanks to her dog Frisco for all the cuddles, even if he still hasn’t figured out how to have dinner ready by the time rehearsal ends.

EMILY PARUK (she/her) (Associate Producer) is returning for her third year in a row working with PTF! She recently graduated from Rider University with a BFAin Acting. This past spring, she lived in Los Angeles interning at the production company Atlas Entertainment, one of the producers of the Best Picture film“Oppenheimer.” In the fall of 2024, Emily wrote, directed, and produced her own play titled How We Fall, based on the 2015 Netflix movie “Circle.” She also co-hosts a film analysis podcast with her older sister called Sisters and the Stars. Emily thanks you for supporting the arts in Portland!

KIMMARIE McCRANN (she/her) (Associate Producer) is thrilled to be joining the wonderful team at Portland Theater Festival for the first time this year. Afterearning her BFA in Acting from Adelphi University, Kim went on to work as the inaugural Artist in Residence at the Accademia dell'Arte in Arezzo, Italy. After Italy, Kim moved to New England to pursue a Directing & Dramaturgy apprenticeship at Portland Stage Company. As a passionate theater director, several of her favorite recent credits include working as an Assistant Director on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Portland Stage), Madeleines (Portland Stage), and Melancholy Play (Adelphi University). Up next, Kim is looking forward to beginning an Artistic Workshop Fellowship in the 2050 Administrative Fellowship program at New York Theatre Workshop.

KENDALL COOPER (she/her) (Casting) has served as resident Casting Director of PTF for the last two seasons. She recently cast principal actors for two features filmed in Maine ("Heightened", "The Ghost Trap"), as well as recreations for Season 1-3 of HULU’s "WILD CRIME". She regularly works in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region casting extras. Credits include: “Hocus Pocus 2", ”Madame Web,” “Little Women,” “Dopesick,” “Defending Jacob,” “Homeland” and more. Kendall is a native Mainer who has recently moved back to Portland. She is deeply grateful to be working in the local film and theater industry in her home state.

TOM HAUSHALTER (he/him) (Marketing & Communications) is delighted to put his marketing hat back on for PTF’s landmark 5th season. A relative newcomer to the Maine theater community, he has had the honor of appearing on stage with Portland Players, Out There Theater Company, and Mad Horse Theatre Company. He is deeply grateful to his wife and daughter for their mountains of love and support.

JULIANA SASS (Literary Director & New Works Programmer) is thrilled to be working with PTF on programming and new work initiatives in support of the festival’s mission to produce bold, imaginative theater in the wonderful city of Portland. She is currently assisting a small team at A24 curating the first season at the new Cherry Lane Theater in New York. As an actor, she has long been committed to new play development. She originated the leading role of Shelby in Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain, for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and has performed in readings, workshops, and productions of new works at leading theaters including Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Clubbed Thumb, The New Group, New York Stage & Film, The Tank and Studio Theater. She graduated with a BA in Comparative Literature from Harvard University and is represented by Aleen Keshishian & James Thompson at Lighthouse Management + Media. In 2024, she made her PTF debut in Dry Land at Cassidy Point.