Table for Two — Review

As I walked by the glass wall of windows of Rector’s Cafe on my way to the main entrance of the Union, I caught a glimpse of the cast and crew of Table for Two huddled in a circle, likely reviewing last-minute details before their performance. Along with other pedestrians on Market Street, I peered through the windows which exposed the cafe-turned-Italian-restaurant bathed in red light and complete with tables set with gingham tablecloths, water carafes, and place settings. The directors Freddie Greenwood and Lexie Dykes from People You Know expressed that they wanted Table for Two “to be visible to people on the street as if it were actually taking place in a restaurant.” This showcase of thirteen duologues captured conversations between friends, couples, and relatives over their individual meals at the same restaurant, cleverly divided into two acts, designated as lunch and dinner services. 

Actors took the stage before the audience was fully seated, which contributed to the immersive atmosphere of the show, creating the sense that the audience was simply observing occurrences at a restaurant. Greenwood and Dykes made a cameo before any dialogue began, seated at one of the centre tables, immersed in conversation while interacting slightly with the set of waiters (Ava Cecile Reid Samans and Ryan Cunningham) preparing for their shift.

Stage managers and technical directors Willa Meloth and Ottavia Morfino used the lighting to guide the audience’s attention to the primary duologue being performed. Despite the practical intent behind the lighting, I had a hard time seeing Anna Tillotson’s face in Scarlett Tew’s ‘Steak & Ale and a Piña Colada’ due to lack of direct lighting and her position at one of the outer tables. Nonetheless, I appreciated these visual cues which allowed multiple pairs of actors to exist on the stage together without competing for attention.

In the first act, performances spanned from a conversation about love between a nun (Hannah Doran) and her niece (Annabel Van Grenen) in Arnaz Mallick’s ‘Second to Nun,’ to a lunch break with a real estate lawyer (Andrew Ibarra) and his eager intern (Abby Myers) in Daisy Paterson’s ‘LinkedIn.’

The standout duologue of the second act was Aidan Monk’s ‘Don’t Think,’ which wonderfully represented the relationship between an adamant wife and a charismatic husband, Daisy Paterson and Geordie Coles respectively, rehashing quarrels from their many years of marriage. The duologue culminated in the couple jokingly throwing vulgar epithets at one another, initially producing laughter, but eventually conjuring tears. The piece took an unexpected turn as the couple began tossing handfuls of pasta at each other, disrupting the other patrons of the restaurant and evoking amusement from the audience as Coles flung his final fistfull of a sauce-laden pile of noodles into the crowd.

The final duologue, Maisie Michaelson-Friend’s ‘Laying the Groundwork’, was unique in that its actors Emily Christaki and Matthew Clegg remained on stage throughout the lunch and dinner services. Clegg, who plays the son of the creator of gravel, delivered a line to his date about the steadfast presence of this conglomeration of rocks in each human’s life, from playgrounds, to driveways, to school car parks. Despite garnering chuckles from the audience, the sentimental statement also encapsulates the essence of Table for Two. Each duologue provides a look into the lives of its characters, successfully representing the complexities of humanity and human interaction. In the same way that I could relate to the presence of gravel in my life, I could think of situations I have lived through similar to those of the characters in the duologues. 

In conversation with the directors, Dykes noted that an acquaintance described the series of duologues as “dramatic tapas,” referring to the brevity and variety of the pieces. Although members of the audience may not relate to every duologue, there is something for everyone in Table for Two. Ultimately, the chemistry between each pair of actors, the setting in Rector’s Cafe, and the combination of humour and melancholy mirror human experiences, providing an appreciation for the intricacies of humanity. 

Photo by Hanna Sabu