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’).
These three actors have so much individual talent and group chemistry that it would have been an entertaining 90 minutes if they had been reading the phone book. But with Table 17, the honesty and the wittiness of the writing hook you immediately if the actors’ dynamism hadn't already. The excellent costume design (Devario D. Simmons) allows the characters to transition seamlessly between the present day to flashbacks in a club, on a plane, or at a Knicks game. Director Zhailon Livingston’s vision ensures the characters always feel three-dimensional, sometimes literally as they dance among the audience members seated at the other “tables.” The meet-cute, the proposal, the escalating fights - there’s something magical about getting lost in the formulaic.
“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.
| 2024 | Off-Broadway |
MCC Theatre Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Michael Rishawn |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Kara Young |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Michael Rishawn |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play | Table 17 |
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