Considering how many evenings Kenneth and his best friend Bert spend ordering Mai Tai’s at the local tiki bar, Bert doesn’t drink much.

That’s because Bert is invisible.

But when the used bookstore where Kenneth works closes and he loses his job, Kenneth needs more than an invisible friend to help him land on his feet.

He needs friends. He needs community. He needs kindness. And frankly, it’s what we all need now, which is one reason that Tyler Dobrowsky, co-artistic director of the Philadelphia Theatre Company, chose “Primary Trust” to open its 2025-2026 season.

That, and it won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for drama – and is being produced in theaters all around the nation.

“It was such a sweet play and is really openhearted. It’s about the need for community and friendship. On the surface, it can seem like a simple play, but there’s such depth to it. It’s really a heart-forward play,” Dobrowsky said.

Tyler Dobrosky is co-artistic director of the Philadelphia Theatre Company. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Theatre Company)

Play selection can be complicated. Dobrowsky said he reads about three or four plays a week, looking for the right mix for upcoming seasons. And actually, the first time he read “Primary Trust,” it really didn’t hit him.

But then the agent representing playwright Eboni Booth asked him to take a second look.

The same agent also represents Philadelphia’s Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames.

Ijames’ new play “Wilderness Generation” will stage its world premiere at the Philadelphia Theatre Company next April, directed by Tabai Magar, the theatre company’s co-artistic director and Dobrowsky’s wife. “Wilderness Generation” is another family reunion drama set in the south, like Ijames prizewinning play, “Fat Ham.”

Once Dobrowsky learned that “Primary Trust” won the Pulitzer and was on stages everywhere, his feelings were even more mixed. Did he just want to jump on the “Primary Trust” bandwagon because the play was popular? “I’m a contrarian,” he admitted.

The poster artwork for Primary Trust. (Courtesy of the Philadelphia Theatre Company)

But the second reading won him over.

“I was so moved by the play. I really responded to how the main character is searching for community and friendship and that felt, like, really sweet and important,” Dobrowsky said.

Dobrowsky also sent the play to director Amina Robinson to read. When she loved it as well, the deal was set.

Busy September

The timing is interesting, though.

“Primary Trust” opens Sept. 19, right in the middle of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, with its 350-some different shows.

Not great, Dobrowsky admitted. The “Primary Trust” production dates had a lot to do with scheduling – when artists were available and when the theater wasn’t being rented. Next year, he hopes Philadelphia Theatre Company can work more closely with Fringe in a more expansive partnership.

Meanwhile, though, the Philadelphia Theatre Company has teamed up with Cannonball, a subsidiary festival within the Fringe, to produce the Philadelphia Theatre Company Text and Dramaturgy Cohort.

Tabai Magar is the Philadelphia Theatre Company’s co-artistic director. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Theatre Company)

Five playwrights were chosen by Dobrowsky and Magar in consultation with producers at Cannonball. The playwrights received mentoring and other support from Dobrowsky and Magar as they prepared their offerings for the Fringe festival, using Cannonball’s venues.

“We selected five artists to work with over the summer and give feedback, guidance and advice,” Dobrowsky said. “Most importantly, we gave them rehearsal space and a printer” for their scripts.

For Dobrowsky and Magar, the collaboration was invigorating, he said, and a break from the myriad of less-glamorous aspects of running a theater.

“It was truly a lot of fun,” he said. “All of their projects seemed really interesting, and we were interested in these particular artists. They have different backgrounds and are at different levels of their career and advancement.

“For Tabai and me, we’re still a little new to Philly. This allowed us to know artists that we wouldn’t have known otherwise,” Dobrowsky said.

An image of the set design for Primary Trust, by David P. Gordon. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Theatre Company)

FYI

“Primary Trust,” Philadelphia Theatre Co., Sept. 19-Oct. 5, Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., 215-985-0420

Works supported by Cannonball 2025’s Philadelphia Theatre Company Text and Dramaturgy Cohort:

“A Journey of Hardship & Suffering – a work in progress showing,” a clowny comedy of errors inspired by a true story of a 19-century Alaska wilderness expedition. Mosquitoes included. Sept. 12 at 6:30, Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St.

“After Worlds” by Taj Rauch from Wherehouse. An immersive, interactive show, an experimental narrative using soundscapes and data clouds. Sept. 12 and 18 at 8 p.m., Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 28 at 2 p.m., Icebox Project Space Gallery, 1400 N. American St.

“The Super Conductor” by August Hakvaag, about scientific progress, workers’ rights and physics. Sept. 13, 1 p.m., and Sept. 28, 5 p.m., Proscenium at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St.

“Caribbean King” by AZ Espinoza, a de-colonial, trans-gressive adaptive confrontation with William Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” Sept. 14 at 4:30 p.m., and Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., Proscenium at the Drake. 

“new heaven, new earth” by Rayne, Afro-centric version of William Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” from Upstream Performance Collaborative and Shakespeare in Clark Park. Sept. 16, 8 p.m., at Proscenium at the Drake.