Michael Rishawn played River/Eric in the New York and Los Angeles productions of Table 17, and is now reprising his roles with Table 17 open at London’s Kiln Theatre, where he works alongside Marisha Wallace and Jamael Westman, which runs until Saturday 24th October, and for his portrayal of the characters, he has won and been nominated for numerous awards. In 2022, Michael made his Broadway debut in Ain’t No Mo’ at Belasco Theatre, understudying Passenger #2 and Peaches, and he has experience on screen with guest roles in shows such as Crutch, And Just Like That…, Survival of the Fittest, FBI: Most Wanted and Disney series Bunk’d. Catching up with Michael, he told us about playing River/Eric in Table 17, what it’s like bringing the show to London’s Kiln Theatre and making his Broadway debut in Ain’t No Mo’.
Having performed in the New York and Los Angeles productions of Table 17, how are you finding the experience bringing the show to London and how does it feel to be reprising your roles of River/Eric for the UK premiere at Kiln Theatre?
In New York, we were still discovering what the play was – everything came together so quickly that we barely had time to think. We were making bold choices in real time, and luckily, every part of the team had a strong point of view, from the acting and writing to the direction and design.
When we brought the play to Los Angeles, we discovered how elastic it was. Now, in London, it feels like we’re conducting an entirely different cultural experiment. Working here has required me to be even more specific, intentional and rigorous about what I’m putting on stage each night.
Certain things don’t always translate in the same way, so you have to keep excavating, keep asking why and stay curious. London is teaching us how the play speaks, sounds and sings with this particular community, and that has kept me curious about what else the work can become.
What was it like meeting your London co-stars Marisha Wallace (Jada) and Jamael Westman (Dallas) for the first time, and what are you enjoying most about working with them on a three-hander play?
Marisha and I actually go way back, to when we were both hustling and trying to make it in New York. She was a star then, and she’s only continued to blossom into one of the biggest stars on the London stage. I’m deeply proud of my friend, and getting to share a stage with her now feels incredibly special. She’s also one of the funniest people I know, hands down, and I think she’s inhabiting the world of Table 17 in a really remarkable way.
Jamael was a completely different kind of introduction. I had actually watched Hedda Gabler on the flight to London because I’m a huge Tessa Thompson fan, without realising Jamael was in it. When we started getting to know each other and he mentioned it, I had this hilarious moment of, “Wait – you were the guy at the bar!”. What I love about working with him is the playfulness he brings into the room. I can sometimes get very deep into the work, and Jamael has a way of reminding me that complexity doesn’t always have to come from seriousness.
That’s what has made this three-hander so exciting. The work is to discover the chemistry of the people who are standing on stage with you and let the new be created from that. This trio has found its own synergy, and I think that’s where some of the best work comes from. It’s been a joy, and definitely one for the books.
Can you tell us about Table 17, and was there anything that originally drew you to the show?
For me, Table 17 is really about the grace we extend to one another. Are we able to offer grace to someone who has hurt us? Can we come back to the table and allow for the possibility that a person has changed – and meet them where they are now, rather than where they were when the hurt happened? Underneath all of the messiness, the drama, and the things left unsaid between Jada and Dallas, I think the play is ultimately asking: can grace be bestowed, and if it can, can we build something new from there?
What drew me to the show was simple: it’s humanity.
What are River/Eric like to play and how would you describe the characters?
I think River and Eric are opposite sides of the same coin in the way they relate to love. River is a beautiful soul with an enormous amount of love to give. Underneath all of that lethal humour is a hopeful romantic – someone who wants to experience the honour of loving and being loved, but who must come to understand what loving himself actually means.
Eric, on the other hand, has lived through a multitude of love affairs, and those experiences have coloured the way he approaches intimacy. He’s more direct, more willing to go after what he wants and perhaps better at bouncing back when love doesn’t work out. But he’s been wounded too, and he is navigating his own relationship to vulnerability just as much as River is.
What makes playing them so rewarding is that they are both Black men, and I get to explore two very different expressions of love, masculinity and vulnerability within Black male bodies. With Eric, the danger would be reducing him to a conniving or calculated rival to Dallas, when underneath the bravado is someone who also believes in love and is willing to risk being vulnerable. With River, the danger is allowing the humour to turn him into a caricature of what a gay man is supposed to be, rather than honouring the deeply human person underneath it.
The challenge – and the joy – is protecting the complexity of both men. They’re funny, wounded, hopeful, messy and deeply deserving of love. Being able to inhabit both of them and have audiences recognise pieces of themselves in each has been incredibly gratifying.
What are some of your favourite highlights from performing in Table 17 in New York and Los Angeles, and how did you feel winning at the Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards and being nominated for a Drama Desk Award for your portrayal of River/Eric?
One of the biggest highlights of performing Table 17 in both New York and Los Angeles was seeing how many different kinds of people found themselves in the play. The work I’m most drawn to is work that invites everybody into the room – across race, culture, gender and identity – and Table 17 really did that. It’s a story about love told through characters who happen to be Black, but audiences could recognise themselves in Jada, Dallas, River and Eric. For me, that was the icing on the cake, because those are exactly the kinds of stories I want to be part of.
The awards were honestly a complete surprise. Before Table 17, I had never been recognised, so I was learning what the Lortels, the Outer Critics and the Drama Desk Awards even meant in real time – going to the events, meeting producers, directors and writers, and suddenly finding myself inside this larger theatre community. I really did feel like the new kid on the block.
Of course, being recognised – and especially winning – was an incredible honour, but none of it was something I expected. Looking back now though, I can see that the experience changed the trajectory of my career.
With Table 17 booking at Kiln Theatre until Saturday 24th October, what are you looking forward to for continuing your run in the show?
I’m looking forward to continuing to spread as much love and joy as we can. There is so much division in the world right now, and I think theatre can offer something quietly healing – people gathering in one space, breathing together, laughing together and allowing themselves to be transported by a story.
Table 17 is ultimately about connection, and I hope the rest of the run continues to give audiences a sense of hope, joy and what it means to commune with one another.
Who do you think will enjoy watching Table 17 and why would you recommend booking tickets?
Table 17 is for anyone who’s experienced love, lost love, tried to love someone or is still figuring out what love means for themselves. I also think Black women, in particular, will feel deeply seen by the play, because they were very much in mind when it was written.
But underneath that specificity, it’s a deeply human story. If you’ve ever loved, been hurt by love, hoped for love or are still on your own journey towards self-love, I think you’ll find some part of yourself in it. That’s why I’d recommend coming to see it.
Earlier this year, you performed in the reading of The Illusion at Florence Gould Theatre, can you tell us about this?
The offer came in from my agents, and once I saw the people involved, it was an immediate yes. André De Shields was originally attached to play my father, which was obviously hugely exciting for me, although by the time the reading came around, he had to step away as he was preparing for Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway. It was also special to be doing Corneille at the Florence Gould Theatre in partnership with L’Alliance New York, an institution so deeply connected to French language and culture.
I hadn’t worked on Corneille before, and the reading gave me the opportunity to return to classical text alongside actors like Jay O. Sanders and Nik Walker, in a room with people who have such deep histories in the theatre.
What I loved most about it was getting to exercise a different part of my instrument. So much of a contemporary acting career is spent working on television or new plays, and there’s something incredibly valuable about returning to heightened language. It demands specificity, breath, clarity of thought and a real understanding of exactly what you’re saying. You can’t hide inside that kind of material.
My training has a strong classical foundation, so in some ways it felt like returning to my roots. Work like Corneille isn’t produced nearly as often now, which made the opportunity to sink my teeth into it even more special. I think actors need those experiences every once in a while – they sharpen your mettle and remind you just how much the instrument is capable of.
How was it making your Broadway debut in 2022 in Ain’t No Mo’ at Belasco Theatre as understudy Passenger # 2 / Peaches?
Like being shot out of a cannon.
The actor I was covering had been out during tech, so I had already stepped into the track, but on the night I actually made my Broadway debut, I thought he was going on. I had checked in, was sitting in my dressing room, and then suddenly there was a knock on the door: “Michael, you’re on”. I had maybe ten minutes.
The company immediately rallied around me. They held the curtain, we quickly went through anything I needed to revisit, and then I was being put into hair, makeup and costumes almost simultaneously. The opening of the play is this long sermon delivered directly to the audience, and it’s incredibly technical – there are lighting and sound cues woven through the text, so it really has to be precise.
I remember standing backstage thinking, “God, please arrest my mind. Mom, please be with me”. The pastor is delivering a eulogy beside a casket, and because I lost my mother unexpectedly after college, there was something about that moment that brought me right back to her. I could feel her with me.
The track itself also required me to transform into several completely different people, sometimes almost on a dime, so by the time I finally took that bow on a Broadway stage, something had shifted in me. I remember thinking, “Michael, you can do anything”. After everything that had happened in the ten minutes before I walked onto that stage, I left the Belasco feeling almost untouchable.
That night became a major turning point in the way I understood myself as an actor. It proved to me, in a very visceral way, that I could meet whatever was thrown at me.
As a screen actor, you had guest roles last year in Crutch (as Raheim), And Just Like That… (as Ezekiel) and Survival of the Thickest (as Jake), how was your time filming for these shows?
What I took from all three of those experiences was actually less about the individual roles and more about the kind of actor – and eventually the kind of leader – I want to be on a set.
On Crutch, I worked with Tracy Morgan and director Oz Scott. On And Just Like That…, I was opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, with Michael Patrick King directing. And on Survival of the Thickest, I got to work with Michelle Buteau and be directed by Tasha Smith. I had known all of their work long before I ever stepped onto their sets, so there was something surreal about suddenly being in the room creating alongside them.
What struck me most was how much the person at the centre of a production can dictate the temperature of the entire set. Tracy, Sarah Jessica and Michelle are all enormous names, but each of them was incredibly generous in very different ways. Tracy brought this joy and warmth that seemed to hold the whole room. Sarah Jessica brought an extraordinary level of professionalism and relatability, and because she’s also a producer on the show, you could feel how intentionally that machine was being run. Michelle fostered a real sense of inclusivity – you felt that there was room for people to show up fully as themselves.
And then working with directors like Oz, Michael Patrick King and Tasha gave me another side of that lesson. Tasha, in particular, made me feel incredibly protected as an actor. Because she is an actor herself, she understands the process from both sides of the camera, and I felt deeply seen by her. Michael is an actor’s director – he kept the room incredibly easy and open.
I left all three jobs thinking about leadership. The best leaders don’t diminish the people around them; they create the conditions for everybody else to do their best work. When I’m number one on a call sheet, that’s the kind of environment I want to create.
What was it like on set of FBI: Most Wanted, in which you could be seen in a Series 4 episode as Jamil Turner?
FBI: Most Wanted was about delivering under pressure. All of my scenes were outside, and it was freezing – absolutely brick outside – which is not exactly where I do my best work! At the same time, Jamil’s material was incredibly high-stakes. His girlfriend is a professional tennis player who is abducted, so most of what I was carrying emotionally was fear, adrenaline and urgency.
I worked primarily with director Ken Girotti and actors Edwin Hodge and Alexa Davalos, and what stood out for me was how quickly a network procedural moves. That machine is running like a speeding train: you’ve got to know your lines, hit your marks, understand the shot, sustain the emotional stakes and be ready when they call action. There’s no time for indulgence.
Looking back, I was really proud of the work I did. It taught me a lot about conserving energy, sustaining emotion and still delivering when the circumstances are tight.
How was it being involved with an episode of Disney series Bunk’d as Teddy Starr in Series 6 in 2023?
Bunk’d will always be really special to me because it was my first television job. What made the experience even stranger – in the best way – was that, months before I booked it, I had gone incredibly deep during a meditation and started seeing these really vivid flashes: myself on a set, people pulling at me from different directions doing hair and makeup, all these different colours around me, and faces watching and laughing. I came out of it thinking, “What was that?”.
Then, months later, I was on the set of Bunk’d, and there were moments when I genuinely stopped and thought, “I’ve seen this before”. It felt incredibly surreal and humbling.
I also discovered how much I love multi-cam. It really is this wonderful marriage of theatre and television – you have the rhythm of a live audience, but you’re still working within the precision of the camera. At one point, my director told me, “Michael, if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing the job,” and once I clicked into that, everything opened up.
What was also wild was that Bunk’d and FBI: Most Wanted ended up airing in the same week, so suddenly I had these two completely different performances appearing on two different networks. That was essentially my introduction to television, and I couldn’t have asked for two more different examples of what I could do.
Teddy Starr will always be close to my heart. I’m a kid at heart anyway, so for my first television experience to be this big, joyful Disney multi-cam comedy felt kind of perfect. The whole thing was magical for me – in a strange way, even before I ever stepped onto the set.
How did you get into acting and was it always something you wanted to do professionally?
Honestly, I was dared into acting. I was on a trajectory towards playing professional soccer, and a good friend of mine dared me to audition for a one-act play festival at my high school. I really wasn’t interested – I had a scrimmage and remember thinking, “Nah, bro, I’m good”. Somehow, he convinced me to do it anyway.
During this five-minute audition, I felt this connection with the audience, and something just ignited. After that, I became obsessive about it. I wanted to be in every play at school and immerse myself in everything I could. That eventually led to audition for drama schools for college and pursue it seriously from there.
So, no, acting wasn’t something I had always imagined doing professionally. I really did fall into it – and then once I found it, I attacked it with total commitment.
Do you have any favourite theatre shows to watch, and are there any shows on in London that you’d most like to see?
I’m drawn to new work – work that feels necessary now and is engaging with the questions society is actually wrestling with. That can mean a brand-new play, or a classic that’s been reimagined in a way that makes it feel urgent and relevant. If the work doesn’t feel connected to something vital in the present, I tend not to respond to it as strongly.
I’m so glad you asked me this – maybe the theatre gods will make something happen for me! I’m desperately trying to see Miss Cate Blanchett at the National Theatre, but those tickets are gone. For real, for real. So, if anybody knows anybody… call me.
How do you like to spend your time away from performing?
I love being in the sun, on a trail somewhere, covered by a canopy of trees. Being in nature, it’s my happy place. Sometimes I think the sound of nature is probably the closest thing to God. It’s where I can really turn my brain off.
I also do glassblowing on the side, which I love. I’m a huge beach person and love tanning – I’m a summer baby, so maybe that’s why? I enjoy going to the movies early in the morning, when nobody’s there and I practically have the whole theatre to myself. I read a lot too, especially autobiographies of people I admire. All these things help me reset outside of work.
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