Last Updated on September 25, 2026

A sassy, date-night rom-com, but does it have the bite?

3.0 out of 5.0 stars

Table 17 comes to London after successful runs in New York and L.A. It is now served up to UK audiences at the Kiln Theatre, which is transformed via a versatile set into Bianca’s restaurant, the centrepiece of which is the eponymous Table 17. Before we get there, we are introduced to Jada (Marisha Wallace, Cabaret, Celebrity Big Brother) and Dallas (Jamael Westman, An Ideal Husband, Wolves on Road), a couple preparing to meet each other for the first time after a lengthy break-up.

Jada is a tell-it-like-it-is, kick-ass type, and after a full-blown lip sync to Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman, she launches into a spicy monologue about the forthcoming rendezvous. She asks the audience if she is overdressed (she is) and speculates on why Dallas called her after two years of silence. Does she want him back? Does he want her back? And, critically, will he be wearing his usual ”dusty ass polyester corduroy”?

Dallas, meanwhile, is confident he looks good, and the corduroy is in fact “POPPIN”. His intro suggests he didn’t want to leave the relationship after four years but had to and ponders that asking her to dinner tonight might be a selfish move. They are greeted at Bianca’s by their host River (Michael Rishawn, who reprises his role from the U.S. productions).

Gay and snarky, River pilots the couple to the table with asides to the audience about their awkwardness: “Ugh, the straights”, he mutters. Having got them seated, and after some awkward chit-chat, they order drinks. Dallas has a soda, revealing he is sober and attending AA; she has a cocktail, ‘The Tropical’, cue flashback to their first meeting six years ago, a bar, a cocky bartender and their first kiss. Bianca’s becomes a nightclub with a loud R&B soundtrack.

The structure of Table 17 is thus established: the dining couple in present time with a succession of flashback scenes showing the course of their relationship. These include a festive present giving, a basketball game and Jada at work as a flight attendant. In each case, the set, with its changing lit floor, overhead captions and rotating seating booth, indicates the location adroitly.

The direction (Zhailon Levingston, Chicken and Biscuits, Cats: The Jellicle Ball) is slick, fast-paced, with much physicality. Writer Douglas Lyons (Chicken and Biscuits, Beau) has a strong comedic touch and Table 17 creates a lot of humour. This is mostly derived from put-downs and oblique observations from River as well as exaggerated reactions and misplaced outrage from Jada. There isn’t a lot of set-up, farce-type humour often associated with the restaurant genre, à la Fawlty Towers, but no bad thing.

Table 17 utilises a lot of direct address. The audience is asked to respond to questions and opine via boos or cheers to certain statements. All good at creating an immersive relationship to the play, with the direct narration doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of storytelling and orienting the audience in respect of location and timeline. However, as the play progresses, the amount of direct address grows.

Increasingly, the face-to-face dialogue between Dallas and Jada is aimed at the audience, which dilutes some of the dramatic tension. While it gives voice to what the characters are really thinking as opposed to what they are saying overtly, this risks making the play a bit on the nose and lacking subtext. In contrast to the vividly written longer monologues, the face to face over the table scenes come over as a bit thin.

The reasons for the break-up are explored via the flashbacks, principally that Dallas was never home, too busy building his music career, which left Jada resentful (despite her own nights away as a flight attendant). Possibly indicative of a lack of maturity, she is sufficiently aggrieved to take radical action. Interestingly, his issues with drink are never referenced again in the flashback scenes.

In general, their motives feel a bit flimsy and lacking psychological credibility. It would have been nice to have seen more change and reversal in the couple. Similarly, although a captivating performance by Rishawn, River never seems to move on from being love-lost and disillusioned with men. He remains a commentator on the action, albeit a very perceptive and humorous one.

The dramatic structure means we know Dallas and Jada split up. Exploring the reasons why is of interest but means there is inevitably a lack of dramatic tension. The will they/won’t they get back together question becomes the focus of the play but doesn’t feel very high stakes, and the twist (there always is one) is muted. That said, the production undoubtedly has the atmosphere of a good night out, a relaxed comic show almost verging on a revue. It doesn’t offer many deep insights about relationships or the perils of reconciliation, but the strong cast are compelling. Definitely make a reservation and remember to ask for Table 17.

Table 17 runs from 24th September to 24th October
Kiln Theatre
269 Kilburn High Road

London, UK, NW6 7JR