If your ex wanted to meet up again, would you? Previously engaged, Jada and Dallas reunite for dinner to hash out the good, the bad, and the ugly from their romantic past. Despite the intrusion of sassy waiters, complicated memories, and their best efforts to keep things casual, the estranged couple find themselves cornered by the truth. From the author and director of Chicken & Biscuits (Douglas Lyons & Zhailon Levingston), this world premiere play is a hilarious and sweet open letter to love found, lost, and possibly reignited.
This new romantic comedy stars three-time Tony Award nominee Kara Young (MCC’s All the Natalie Portmans, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, Clyde’s, The Cost of Living), Biko Eisen-Martin (MCC’s soft) and Michael Rishawn (Ain’t No Mo’).
“Never work with animals or children.” W.C. Fields delivered those words of wisdom to adult actors, and if the great screen comic were alive today, he might add to that short list of taboos a young actor’s name: Michael Rishawn. He walks away with the new Douglas Lyons comedy “Table 17” even though he’s a supporting player. The play had its world premiere Friday at MCC Theater.
On your way into the auditorium to see MCC’s Table 17 you may notice a sign on the wall quoting the playwright, Douglas Lyons, explaining his inspiration for the work. He referred to the “Black romcom cinema” of the 90’s and 2000’s as a thrilling movement that “permeated” his childhood. Sure enough, the play features a cast of endearingly quirky characters engaged in a romantic duel with sprinklings of humor amid the pathos of love lost and found. And I must say, Lyons and his terrific company did one better than the old romcoms. Table 17 is a deliciously heartfelt study of an ex-couple that’s as funny as it is profound.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
MCC Theatre Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
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