We sat down with director Kaytlin McIntyre to talk about all things Primary Trust.

Seattle Rep: Primary Trust is on its way to becoming one of the most popular plays of the year at regional theaters across the country. Why do you think the play and its themes resonate so deeply with audiences right now?

Kaytlin McIntyre: Primary Trust is about a man who must face his fears and embrace change, even when the future seems uncertain. While Eboni Booth started writing this play before COVID, it touches on so many emotions that we recognize from a global pandemic—isolation, anxiety, and the coping mechanisms we develop to just get through the day. So, I think audiences connect with it because it feels recognizable and deals with big, complicated themes but in a subtle, surprising, and humorous way. I often describe it as a “comedy about loneliness.”

^{Stephen Tyrone Williams and Allyson Lee Brown in rehearsal for Primary Trust (2024). Photo by Sayed Alamy.}

SR: As the former lead of Seattle Rep's new works program, you had a lot of scripts come across your desk. What made playwright Eboni Booth's work stand out to you?

KM: If a stack of plays includes a work by Eboni Booth, I always prioritize reading it because I know I will find something to love. Eboni lifts the stories of mundane spaces: grocery stores, tiki bars, banks. She writes about small towns and unseen people and, in doing so, she exposes surprising and profound truths living right under our noses. There is a quietness and restraint to Eboni's work that I find very compelling. She trusts the artists and, ultimately, the audience to fill in the gaps and gives them space to draw their own conclusions about the characters and story. Eboni is also an actor, and you can feel that in the richness and playfulness of her characters—she writes roles you want to sink your teeth into.

SR: You are an alumna of Seattle Rep's Winky Hussey Professional Arts Training Program as a Directing Intern and eventually took on the post of Seattle Rep Artistic Producer before your current role as Director of Repertory Producing at Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). What advice would you give to young and emerging directors that want to make a life in theater?

KM: Don’t wait for someone to give you permission to do your work! Find a space, whether that’s a living room or a park or a traditional theater space, and make the art happen yourself. Start cultivating your collaborators now and you’ll be amazed at what other hungry artists are willing to create with you in their spare time. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it gives you agency over your career and art instead of placing the control in the hands of someone else.

_{Director Kaytlin McIntyre in rehearsal for Primary Trust (2024). Photo by Sayed Alamy.}

SR: What do you hope audiences take away from this show?

KM: Again, I think the beauty of Eboni’s writing is that she leaves the audience space to have different takeaways and experiences. One audience member may feel the need to call their mom, another may crave a Mai Tai. Both of those are great. My personal wish is that audiences will walk away feeling less alone and more eager to extend compassion towards the outsiders in their own communities.

SR: Anything else you'd like the audience to know?

KM: I like to think of Primary Trust as psychological magical realism. It adheres to an emotional logic more than it adheres to rational logic. What feels real is real. Just go with it!

See Primary Trust on stage at Seattle Rep from October 24–November 24, 2024.

tickets