Table 17 (MCC Theater)

By Harry Forbes

Former partners Jada (Kara Young) and Dallas (Biko Eisen-Martin) meet at a restaurant for a reunion under the sardonic eye of the supercilious maitre d/waiter River (Michael Rishawn) in Douglas Lyons amusing and ultimately touching comedy.

Smartly and resourcefully directed by Zhailkon Levingston on Jason Sherwood’s chicly adaptable set configured like the Bianca’s eatery at which the action transpires (the first rows of the theater have been replaced by tables for audience members), the play is a solid showcase for three very appealing performances. (A porgram insert, incidentally, is cutely designed as a menu in keeping with the show’s setting.)

Young follows up her brilliant work as Lutiebelle in last season’s “Purlie Victorious” with another bravura performance. Her brash Jada conceals a vulnerable creature hurt by the past events we learn as the evening transpires. She gets the laughs where appropriate but also shows us the touching heartbreak beneath the bravado. Eisen-Martin’s aspiring music producer Dallas matches her sensitivity beautifully, and their scenes together play out with convincing naturalness, by turn awkward, bitter, and tender in their interactions. Rishawn impresses in his multiple roles demonstrating easy versatility as he morphs from campy waiter to Jada’s former coworker and other roles. 

The play is punctuated by several flashbacks which fill in the backstory, as well as brief audience asides where these characters express their inner thoughts a bit reminiscent of O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude.” A pivotal Christmas episode, an airport mixup, and a breakup confrontation are particularly well done.

All the production elements are fine including Devario D. Simmons’ costumes, Ben Stanton’s lighting, and Christopher Darbassie’s clear sound design. 

We’ve seen this general story before, and occasional stretches of dialogue are a tad conventional, but overall, Lyons’ comic voice is distinctive, as was clear with his Broadway debut play, “Chicken and Biscuits,” and there are, in any case, a couple of unexpected twists in the narrative which keep things even more interesting. 

(MCC Theater’s Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater,  511 W 52nd Street; mcctheater.org/tix/; hrough September 29)

Photo by Daniel J Vasquez: (l.-r.) Biko Eisen-Martin, Kara Young

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