Most of us have been there at least once: Your phone lights up, you look down, and your ex’s name pops up on the screen. Maybe you haven’t heard from them in a while—weeks, months, or even years. If things ended badly, you might be annoyed at this sudden intrusion. If there were lingering doubts, maybe you experience a jolt of excitement. In Douglas Lyons’ Table 17, running through November 15 at Union Arts Center, Jada (Bria Samoné Henderson) feels a little bit of each when her former fiancé Dallas (Brandon JonesMooney) resurfaces with an unexpected call.
It’s been two years since the couple split, and Jada—who has recently unblocked Dallas—feels strong enough to meet up, even if she can’t figure out his intentions. It’s the perfect kick-off to a classic rom-com packed with humor, heartbreak, growth, and personal transformation. We don’t start out knowing the reason for the couple’s breakup, but as they rehash their past over drinks at a popular restaurant (waited on by the sassy and far-too-involved server River, played by Lamar Legend), the evolution—and eventual implosion—of their relationships is laid out in detail. Along the way, each character makes a series of choices that lands them at a seemingly irreparable impasse. Some are good, some are bad, and some are emotionally driven and impulsive—but all are authentically human. As the show unfolds, the audience is encouraged to participate vocally, and on opening night, it did not hold back.
Table 17 is directed by local theater mainstay Shermona Mitchell. A simple set by Parmida Ziaei (the namesake table and two chairs sit at the back of the stage throughout the show; Andrew D. Smith’s lighting design pulls a lot of weight) is ambiguous enough to serve as an apartment, restaurant, nightclub, sports arena, and airplane interior. The strength comes from the repertoire between the two main actors, who aptly embody—and transmit—emotions ranging from the first coy remarks of a fresh flirtation to the stop-and-start awkwardness of two nervous people reuniting for the first time in years. It’s all very relatable.
Bria Samoné Henderson as Jada and Brandon JonesMooney as Dallas navigate a complicated reunion in Table 17.
Photo by Giao Nguyen
Lamar Legend, who takes on multiple roles in Table 17, alongside Bria Samoné Henderson.
Photo by Giao Nguyen
And maybe that’s what makes it so enjoyable. Sure, a lot of “great” plays moralize. They’re heavy and dark and they get a point across. But theater doesn’t always have to be so serious. Especially right now when everything else in the world is. Table 17 isn’t all hearts and roses, but *spoiler alert* it has a happy ending, and it celebrates love in all of its deep, complicated, and beautiful messiness. It’s a fun escape, a feel-good evening.
With a cast of three, the play demands a lot of each actor. Legend was a multi-faceted standout. In addition to playing River, he is also Jada’s coworker Eric and the smarmy bartender who tries to pick her up the night she first meets Dallas. Despite a few fumbled lines, he transitioned smoothly and believably between characters, garnering increased audience cheers each time he hit the stage. Henderson and JonesMooney each arrive at the restaurant with their guard up, toeing the line between defensiveness and intimacy while slowly chipping away at each other’s walls, leaving us to grapple with the question of how much are we willing to leave in the past in order to step into our own future?
Table 17 runs through November 15 at Union Arts Center. Tickets here.
