INTERVIEW: Pull up a seat at ‘Table 17’ with Michael Rishawn
Photo: Michael Rishawn and Kara Young star in Table 17. Photo courtesy of Daniel J. Vasquez / Provided by official site.
One of the hottest tickets in town is the off-Broadway premiere of Douglas Lyons’ new show, Table 17, now playing an extended run at MCC Theater in Midtown Manhattan. Starring Tony Award winner Kara Young, Biko Eisen-Martin and Michael Rishawn, the show centers on the important and complex theme of love as Jada (Young) and Dallas (Eisen-Martin) meet for dinner years after calling off their engagement.
Rishawn, an accomplished actor, pulls triple duty during the play, portraying the characters of River, Eric and Mason. He is constantly entering and exiting the unique stage where Table 17 is being performed through Sept. 29. He can be a host and waiter, a bartender or a flight attendant in search for love. The multifaceted performance is a marvel and one of the most memorable aspects of Lyons’ show, which is directed by Zhailon Levingston.
“When [Lyons] came to me, it was about 40 pages, so it wasn’t even a fully realized play,” Rishawn said about his entry into this project. “But I remember being struck by, particularly for my track, how distinct the voices were. I could hear them immediately before I had even tried my hand at speaking the language for the first time. I could hear them very, very clearly, which I think is a testament to his writing and how it’s gotten stronger and how it’s evolved over time.”
Lyons is an in-demand writer, known for his Broadway’s Chicken & Biscuits and TV’s Fraggle Rock. For Rishawn, working with the playwright has been a joy because the three characters that the actor portrays are so varied and interesting, and he could instantly hear their individual voices.
“For me, it was that, how clear the characters were, how clear the writing was and honestly how sharp his jokes were within the piece because it is in the style of multi-cam comedy, which is not a typical device that is used in a play,” he said. “For this piece, finding love and humor and sadness and grief through comedy is what makes this thing singular in that way.”
Playing multiple characters on stage is a difficult feat, but Rishawn is up for the challenge. In fact, his performance(s) are so strong they could serve as an example to aspiring actors on how one becomes a completely different person in the span of a few seconds. He has received comments from engaged audience members who have appreciated his work on stage and how he moves from one role to the next with seemingly little effort.
“That comment really touched me because I don’t think when I’m doing a piece I’m sort of aware of how it’s being received,” said Rishawn, who appeared in Broadway’s Ain’t No Mo’. “I think for me the goal is to always play the truth of every person that I’m playing, and in this particular piece, I get to play three different humans. I think that now that we’re in the run of the play, it is exhausting because all three of them are clamoring to talk, and as soon as the lights go down and Kara starts us off, I definitely feel like there’s three different spirits that are inhabiting me. And they’re all wanting equal airtime. I do feel like inevitably I just try to play the truth, and I try to be an open vessel to that, to allow them to come out and say what they have to say. Backstage we have so much support with crew helping and wardrobe with the changes and things like that. We are supported, but, yeah, it definitely is a challenge. But it’s also a gift, I think, for an actor to be able to have an opportunity like this within the confines of the medium, to be able to transform and change and show range. It’s a gift, for sure.”
The actor said his two main roles of River and Eric are essentially two different sides of the same coin, while he sees Mason, the bartender role, as a competent person who is “cool and satisfied” with his bachelorhood. What’s fascinating about these portrayals is that while the audience learns about Jada and Dallas’ love — found, lost and found again — they also learn about these other characters who struggle and triumph in the arena of the heart.
“All three of them are at very different points in their journeys of love,” he said. “Ultimately that’s what I am hoping to present to the people that come into the space because I do think what’s beautiful is that anyone can come into the space while watching Table 17, and they can actually find themselves in all five of the people that are on the stage — Jada, Dallas, Eric, River and Mason. Everyone has been in some sort of capacity one of those people, and with the three that I get to play, it’s important for me to make sure that the Rivers of the world, the Erics of the world are not forgotten because just as much as Jada and Dallas deserve love, so does Eric and River. We don’t want to forget about those people as well.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Table 17, featuring Michael Rishawn, continues through Sept. 29 at MCC Theater in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
