Video: Douglas Lyons & Biko Eisen-Martin Take a Bite Out of TABLE 17

Are you ready? It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon

Welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon, and you're watching us right here on Broadway World

It's an exclusive Friday. Well, I have one of my favorite playwrights. I have one of my favorite actors. I love our next guest because Douglas Lyons is here

and he's bringing with him one of the stars of his new show called Table 17, Pico Isa Martin

And I am excited to have them both here. So stay tuned. This is the roundtable where artists talk about art

We are here every Friday on Broadway World for an exclusive chat with some of your favorite artists

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We have interviews. We do it all with art and artists. So I'm happy you're here

I saw Douglas Lyons at an event. He told me he was writing this show

He told me the premise, which is if your ex called, would you go to dinner? I give my answer in my introduction with Mr. Lyons

Mbiko is here, too. This was a fun chat. You know, I love playwrights

I love people who do many things, and I love people who are just here to have a good time. Take a peek at this special chat

All right, so I'm super excited because I love our next guest work, and I love this next actor

Y'all, when we were at an event a couple weeks ago on a red carpet, a couple months ago

Douglas Lyons told us that this show, that Table 17 was coming to MCC

he told us if our ex called and wanted to meet again, would we meet

And I told him, hell no. But that doesn't make as good of a show

meeting makes a good show. So I'm so excited. I can't wait to see it

You can see the show all the way through September 22nd. Douglas, Biko

you're going to tell us the whole scoop. We want the whole story. We're ready

Welcome to the roundtable. Thank you for having us. Happy to be here. Douglas, you introduced us to this idea

You told us on the red carpet that Carrie Young was going to be a part of the show. You told us the premise is about people meeting up for dinner

with an ex. where did this, did this come from some messy Douglas Lyons secret life stories

I wish. I don't think. Actually, I wouldn't do dinner with some of my exes

I would do it, except for one. He can kick rocks. But, no, there's this cut.com series where exes meet

I saw it on Instagram, but it's also on YouTube. With these exes, they just like sit down and talk about their past

and, you know, their wrongdoings and where they didn't communicate, and they might have missed each other

I ran across this, like, during the pandemic. And then when Newark's Provincetown reached out about a commission

I was like, there's this clip. It's 11-minute clip that's very inspiring and inherently dramatic

I think it could be a play. And so they were like, we'll make it a play

And I said, okay. And that's where it began. Yeah. And Biko, how was your journey to this

Did you audition? Did you send a tape? Did you go in the room? What was the journey for you to be a part of this

I joined in the workshop phase. I think it was the second workshop in November

and then we had another one in February. So I joined in on the workshop phase and been involved ever since

Yeah. And Douglas, it's a three-person show. Yes, three-person show, five-character show

Okay. So, Biko, you three work then very closely together. What was it like to build the chemistry with Kara and Michael and you all on stage together to put the show on every single night

Well, I mean, they're both brilliant actors. So it's not hard at all

It's really just a matter of kind of choosing what tool we want to use today, what color, what shade, what temperament

It's just a kind of game of adjustment. But it's very inspiring

You know, I frequently catch myself kind of watching them like, wow, they're really good

You know, this is really good. You know what I mean? So it's been pretty seamless and fun

And the chemistry was pretty alive since the first read of it

I think that's why it kept going. So, you know, it's part of the kind of what's the word snowball effect of just like

we just kept getting such positive responses and so much energy in the room

I mean, I've never been a part of a reading that was so electric to an audience and where it was like this kind of palpable feeling in the air after every reading, you know

And so I think it's a testament to how much trust the performers have developed amongst each other, you know, and just like, I think we're all very committed to the story

You know, in our own ways, of course. But, yes, there's a lot of commitment to the story

Well, it's already been extended. You can go till September 22nd. You can see it

You can go to MCC while we talking theater and you can get your tickets There all sorts of initiatives They do a lot of work over there to make sure that you can get So there no excuse people for not being able to come see the show

No. Now, Douglas, when you wrote this, it's got a universal theme

I mean, we all have, most of us have exes. Most of us have interesting paths with them

Some people have regrets. Some people, like you said, want them to kick rock. Some people long for them

So what is it like when you hear people that see it? Do people go see it through the lens of, it's not a show for

any particular, it's not a gay show, straight show, black show. It's an everybody show

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, I think love is universal. The desire for love is universal

And whether you are single, whether you are going through a breakup, whether you, you know

you got some money on the side. It's going to cover all of it, right? But I think what's really

important, especially in the American theater, is to have this black love. That's a very

specific love that I grew up on that I don't always see portrayed. And I would

wanted to like capture that and to share it as an entry point into conversation about the bigger

picture of love. And so that has been really like we had the patron performance last night

And it was predominantly white and that audience ate it up. Yes. They ate it up. And that's because

our love is your love. You know, so I've sat through some of the audience conversations and

you know, it's a multi-age race response and people are very moved and that's that's encouraging

Yeah, it's really fascinating to see people like of completely different ages

races, basically say the exact same thing when they leave the theater with

oh, I know that person or that was me or I just got, I just dumped that person

It's like across the board, everybody is in it. Yeah. Well, I love that both of you both right, you're both actors

You both are very multifaceted doing research about Bico and I know it and reading about Douglas

But you come from different coasts. I mean, Douglas is a tri-state, Connecticut artists

You're from the West Coast in San Francisco in that art world. But when you come together, art is art

Relationships are relationships. What can you say about each other that you've learned in this process

Douglas is so, ooh, I was about to cuss. He's just so, just so like, just the, the

the ability. to take like the every day and just make it

hilarious and just like, I don't know, it's just what, I love

how great writers can just like just show you like all of your contradictions

and just how ridiculous you are. You know what I mean? And also how fun

you are to watch. You know what I mean? Just as a human

there's just something that that's very magical, that happens that I very much appreciate

I also really appreciate the attention to the audience. That has been a lesson to of just like really observing and learning how

Douglas is, you know, we always say the audience is the final character

That's kind of like something we always say in the theater. But to really embrace it in a different kind of way and to, you know

not just elicit a response, but encourage responses and nurture those responses

And it's just a way of communicating with the audience. That's just super singular, which, you know, you have to come to the show to see it and to experience it

Because I haven't, I've been in plays where I've engaged with the audience before

but this is a little different because they're really like, right. there in our living room, you know

So and just, but the craft of cultivating that relationship has been quite fascinating to watch. Yeah

That's what you do, Douglas? I think the cool thing about working with Biko in this project is like

so we have types, right? There's actor types, but you can't bring spirit if you don't have it, right

So when I heard Biko read the script for the first time in November, December, I was like, oh, that's the spirit

That is the exact right. Spirit and cadence of the text and energy

of this lovable corduroy wearing dude. You know, like, so that has been part of my honor, too

is I think what's made his performance and the other two so special is like

they're highlighted in their singularness and collectively it's an explosion, you know, with the play

And so that's really, that's the dream for me. Literally the first day of the first workshop

I hadn't met him yet, and I read the script that I came in like

I read the script, I feel very seen, and I feel like you coming for me at the same time

which is, again, what you want. You know, you want that humanity

but then you also want to be challenged. Without giving anything away, without giving the show away, Biko

are you the, are you the X? Are you the current? Are we allowed to say

Who are you in the show? you can say you can say things i dallas thompson i like corduroy i a capricorn you know i madly in love with jada you know um how and why and what comes out of that You do got to come in tune in to see

There you go. There you go. It's right there. Douglas, you burst on the scene for many. I mean, you didn't burst on the scene. I mean, you toured this whole country

You did Broadway. You've been, you know, everything from beautiful to Dreamgirls to the whole shebang

as an actor and like parade or of course many of us like myself first saw your work over at chicken

and biscuits. You literally opened the world. The world closed and then Douglas opened theater up and

chicken and biscuits came to the world. But Douglas, I said this to you somewhere. I am getting married

in May to my husband, as I call him, who is a pastor's son, family from Detroit. And I am in so over my

head, so I appreciate it. You know, I'm his special friend over here that comes over, but we're

married. You know, so I see your work, and I appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I think

what's really important to me is that theater has an idea of what blackness is and how we're

allowed to be in the space. And I'm sort of, my movement is joy. Like, what

is necessary and important conversation, but also there's so much joy I was raised in

And I always want that, like, in the script and in the space so that there's no question that

we don't carry that as well. And I think table 17 is proving that. And that's what's so great

about your writing, because you throw in all of the lessons and the nuance and the humanity

and the relationships and all the things we need. But we laugh our way through it. It is not

you know, you're not going to sit there and cry for two hours. You're going to have a good time

I did hear a patron last night that said y'all should put some tissues on these tables

she was she was a little upset that we didn't have some tissues ready for the crowd so

yeah you're gonna I know it I know it already you're gonna make us cry when you're both you

both are multifaceted artists so how do you I mean Douglas do you sleep I mean you this is like

my life like I grew up like when you write your shows you just came back from I think

you're in L.A. doing rent. You write television, you write theater. It is not easy to get

original theater put up in New York. It's not easy to get it put up anywhere, period, especially

theater of color or queer theater or any kind of theater that you, so how do you get the

how do you departmentalize your life and keep going? So I try to get seven hours of sleep

between two and nine at the very least. I have therapy twice a week to keep my head straight

to keep myself great. And then I treat it like a business

You know, like I email artistic directors. I'm pressing my work. I am always making sure that people know what I'm up to

because things have happened. Like Mark Cretale, who commissioned the play, we connected on Instagram

Table 17 was written because he saw a post of mine that reminded him a chicken and biscuits

and then we had a conversation that became this play. So I'm just actively making sure that I have a presence and then I'm ready to meet the moment when the opportunity presents itself

And that's it. That's a lesson for all the young actors and writers out there to make those relationships and be ready

Stay ready. You do the same thing. How do you departmentalize your life

You've done shows. You've done shows at MCC before. You have done tons of regional and theater in New York and television

How do you pick the jobs and departmentalize your job as an artist? I really don't know. I think for me a lot of it is saying yes, you know, just like just trying to dive in as much as possible because work is a blessing and a gift, you know, whenever it comes around. So I think I'm much happier and actually work a lot better when I'm flooded than when I have too much free time. That's just me. You know, I just enjoy

the grind. So I do try to stay busy as much as possible and make myself busy when I'm

you know, when things aren't happening, I make them happen for myself, you know, and I think that's a

big part of it. I'm not as good with the social media. That's something I need to work on

For sure, I need to get on social media more. But yeah, you know, just, I think just saying

yes to things and diving in whenever you get the opportunity to do something, whether

it's collaborating, whether it's building something of your own for later collaboration

It's just like trying to be as present as possible with myself and honest as possible with

myself about what it means to like create, you know, and be front-footed about creating things

you know. Yes. Well, we're going to hold you accountable to social media because you could follow him

You could say, yeah, holler at me. I will hollap at me

I will follow Douglas. You can follow Douglas on IG and social media as well

Go to their websites. You can see all of their work because it's not just this show. It's not just, I was telling Beko wrote, his shows are up there on his website

And Douglas' shows from the musicals to the play. Everything is up on their website. So you got to stay up to date because I sure you all got tricks up your sleeves for what down the pike Maybe maybe Definitely definitely got some things up the sleeve But I will say that I think what is popping now is like table 17 full throttle

You know, and for me, the multifaceted thing, it is all about like you can commit to a lot of things

but you can't do two things at once. So it's like when we're here, it's all table 17

It's all just diving into this love slash fun fest slash rage fest slash cry

Sex. Look, this picture. Yeah. Yeah. Matthew Murphy. Yeah. Chemistry

We didn't talk about the director. I mean, your director here is having quite the summer from your show to going down to

the cat's angelical ball to the whole. I mean, what can you say both of you about the creative team and working with your director on this piece

Yeah, I would say Jalen really, I mean, we have a connection, obviously, from Chicken and Biscuits

but he assembled quite the team on the designer side as well. When you walk into this space, it feels like you are in an atmosphere

It has a vibe. It's exactly the vibe that I dreamed when I wrote the play

So I love our creative team led by Jalen and how all that you

all of everyone's work, because this play deals with time and flashback

Like, it's not, we aren't in one shoebox all night, you know, so it took a lot of elements

to capture that beauty and he led a fantastic team. I'll let you talk about him

Oh yeah, no, Jaylen is great. He's so smart and poetic. I think any actor who's work with Jaylen knows

you're gonna get some poetic notes. You know, it's not always just gonna be a literal kind of like

this is how you do. do it. It's always the questions. It's always the prompts. It's always things to be thinking about to deepen the work. It's never super prescriptive, you know, which is a fun challenge, you know, to know that there is no ceiling to what you're going for. But we want to kind of keep it on the tracks, obviously. But how deep we can go. There's really no limit. And, um

Yeah, for anybody who didn't see Katz, sorry for you. You missed out because Katz was amazing

It's coming back. It's coming. Oh, two weeks. Yeah. They got to September 8th, I think

There it is. I'm back. So you could have a whole thing. You could make it a whole fall moment and see all the shows

You've got to see this show because it's going to keep selling out. It's going to keep selling tickets over at MCC

You only have until September 22nd. Yeah, you get your tickets now. You better get your tickets

Get your tickets now. Am I supposed to bring a date? Like you should bring your man or woman or person to the show

Bring whoever. You might bring your potential, you know? Bring somebody you dating

This one woman was like, I'm bringing my husband. And then she said about an hour into the play

she was like, maybe I'll bring somebody else. There you go. There we have

That's what we love. And shows and companies like MCC and off Broadway

where original work is put up and given a chance is so important to the life of artists

and art in New York City. It's so important that we go and support all of these theater companies out here

that give a show a place to be so it can grow and become bigger

And before it's to Broadway and towards the world and becomes a movie and a lifetime miniseries

it's got his home here. So we've got to support these theater companies for sure. Definitely. Big ups to MCC

So many beautiful players. I've seen so much beautiful work here. They're the best

The absolute best. Well, we love you both. Douglas, you're the best

I love your work so much. Everything that you do, you inspire all of us artists because you do everything

I think he sweeps the theater. I think he takes your ticket. He turns the lights on

I don't know. We're ready for more from you. We're ready for your work and your plays to be out and about and all the television

and stages and screens that you're about to hit. Thank you for sharing time with us today

Thank you. We'll see you at the table. Yeah. Table. Table 17. Get your tickets today. Get your tickets so you have until September 22nd and we'll see you all real soon. Thank you both for being here. Thank you, Robert. Super fun, right? So fun. Hell no is the answer. I'm a happy married man over here. Yes, people. Well, if you love theater and art, we have shows for you. Make sure you check out and see a new show today. You don't have to be in New York City. You could be in any city. I mean, I'm not in New York City right now and I'm still going to see art and regional art and community theater

and tours and concerts and symphonies, you could go see a play in a park

It doesn't matter. Just go support some art and artists because people worked really hard

put their blood, sweat, and tears and heart into making art for you, and they can't do it without an audience

So we've got to support the artistic life that is in this country. From me to you, I wish you the best

Thank you so much for being here. The best is yet to come. Join us next Friday. We'll have more artists from Broadway

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Until next time, everybody, the best is yet to come. Bye, everyone