UPLIFTING: “Primary Trust,” the final play of the season at McCarter Theatre, is about renewal and community. From left are DeShawn Harold Mitchell as Kenneth, and Peter Bisgaier, in one of the three different roles he takes. (Photo by Mikki Schaffner)

By Anne Levin

In Primary Trust, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Eboni Booth that closes out the season at McCarter Theatre May 8-25, actor Peter Bisgaier plays three different roles. To his delight, none of them are villains.

“As a 50-year-old white man, my place in the theater nowadays is often to play not very nice people,” said Bisgaier, whom local audiences may recognize from his work with Pegasus Theatre Company in West Windsor and, later, Bordentown; and Passage Theatre Company in Trenton. In Primary Trust, he plays a banker, a bookshop owner, and a third character he leaves for audiences to discover.

“I have a history of playing, in the best case, someone who is overwrought and bossy, and in the worst case, someone who is quite racist or awful,” he said during a phone interview last week. “So playing characters who are nice and supportive is great.”

Primary Trust, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama last year, premiered Off-Broadway in 2023 and comes to McCarter as a co-production with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. The play follows a shy, 38-year-old bookstore worker who must confront a world he has long avoided when he is suddenly laid off from his job.

“It’s an extraordinary play. I absolutely adore it,” said Bisgaier. “It’s about community and lifting up the people around us who need lifting up. It’s about a young man’s journey of self-discovery and recovering from a childhood trauma.”

Bisgaier liked the script when he first read it. But he wasn’t blown away — yet.

“When we went to the first day of rehearsal and the cast was reading it out loud, I thought, ‘Wow, this play is amazing.’ I think that’s because of how well written it is,” he said. “Much of what is impactful and emotional and deep about it isn’t necessarily directly on the page. That’s one of the beauties of it. It’s not heavy-handed or preachy. One of the other actors said something similar — that once he heard it out loud, the life started coming out.”

Bisgaier, who lives in Yardley, Pa., grew up in Philadelphia and Haddonfield. His choice of profession hasn’t wavered since first grade, when he played the lead role in The Handsome Troll.

“My whole life, it’s the only thing I ever wanted to do,” he said. “My parents took me to see The Fantasticks, and expected that we’d leave when I got antsy. But my mother said I sat still for two hours, and she had never seen that before. I never wanted to be a baseball player or an astronaut. Being on stage and performing is where I feel the most alive.”

Growing up, Bisgaier attended a program called The Drama Spot in Audubon, and studied theater through high school. Since earning a degree from the University of Southern California, he has worked around the country as an actor, director, producer, and writer as well as a stage manager and technical director. More recently, he stuck closer to home as his children grew up.

Playing three different roles in Primary Trust might sound daunting, but Bisgaier relishes the opportunity.

“I love it. It’s really just about being specific in your physical choices, vocal patterns, and things like that,” he said. “I love to do shows where I’m changing and coming in and out. I definitely do not carry the emotional weight of this show. I’m there for them, and provide some levity.”

For the future, Bisgaier is hoping that Pegasus Theatre, which he co-founded in 2014 at the West Windsor Arts Council, will find a permanent home. The company moved to Bordentown in 2022, but lost their space. They continue to offer classes and camps, but are anxious to get back to producing plays.

“We lost the lease on the place we were using, which was unfortunate,” Bisgaier said. “At the moment, we are desperately looking. So if anyone has a space, let us know.”

In the meantime, he is thrilled to be a part of Primary Trust. “In Cincinnati, I think people really needed to see a play about community and coming together and lifting each other up,” he said. “One of the things that’s beautiful in the play is when DeShawn, a young Black man, first walks out on stage. We make immediate judgements; then he begins to tell his story. I think the audience, in some ways, gather together to uplift him as well. And in the present climate of the world, and our country specifically, people really need it. Anyone I would see after the show was very moved.”

Visit Mccarter.org for tickets and specific dates and times.