REVIEW: Table for Two and Blind Dates expand our understanding of love
iPhoto caption: Table for Two (L) photo by Dahlia Katz, Blind Dates (R) photo by Jae Yang.
Love is taking centre stage at two Toronto theatres this February. At Soulpepper Theatre, Akosua Amo-Adem’s Table for Two brings us the story of a perpetually single woman, with a side of cultural reflection. And in Theatre Passe Muraille’s intimate Bob Nasmith Innovation Backspace, Vivian Chong’s Blind Dates offers a sensory-rich journey through love and dating. Both shows are written by the woman playing the central character, giving the spotlight to female perspectives on love this (post-)Valentine’s season.
At opening night of Table for Two, the theatre was packed with friends and couples alike spending their Valentine’s evening together. I could sense the anticipation among the audience’s vibrant chatter as we waited for the lights to dim. Table for Two, directed by Djanet Sears and co-produced by Obsidian Theatre, introduces us to Abena (a.k.a. Abby), played by Amo-Adem, who takes the traditionally passive audience-performer relationship and transforms it into something closer to a group of friends helping someone get ready for a date. As we weigh in on dress choices and wig selections, the theatre becomes a collective dressing room. The audience serves as Abby’s trusted friends, next to Abby’s ride-or-die bestie Janelle, played by Meghan Swaby (her performance deeply resonated with me, reminding me of the value of platonic love).
The strategy works brilliantly. By the time Abby is preparing to meet the mysterious JD45, who she encountered on a dating website, I was deeply invested in her romantic success. As that date turns into an emotional rollercoaster and as her dating history unfolds in side stories, the audience is right there with her, rooting for her. Ryan Allen brings all of Abby’s suitors to life, from the douchey, out-of-touch Marcus007 to the kind and caring Patrick, Abby’s boyfriend for two years. Allen’s performance perfectly captures the vast range of possibilities on the dating scene.
But what begins as a clever commentary on romantic mishaps evolves into something far more nuanced.
The initially archetypal figure of Abby’s Ghanaian mother (Bola Aiyeola) isn’t just a voice demanding grandchildren or suggesting nice Ghanaian men — she becomes a fully realized character with her own fears, hopes, and understanding of love. Their conversations about dating are reflections of larger questions about cultural identity, belonging, and the evolution of tradition. In one particularly powerful scene, what starts as another argument about Abby’s dating choices transforms into a raw dialogue about love — how it’s expressed, understood, and sometimes lost in translation between generations and cultures.
On its surface, Table for Two is the comedic retelling of Abby’s dating misadventures and search for “the one,” but in the end, it’s the non-romantic relationships that steal the show. As we get to know Janelle and Abby’s mom over the hour-and-40-minute show, it becomes clear that this show is about so much more than the online dating blunders described in the show’s marketing.
Across town at Theatre Passe Muraille, Blind Dates takes a different approach to the subject of modern romance. Vivian Chong’s production is groundbreaking not just in its content, but in its form. Director and dramaturg Marjorie Chan 陳以珏 has carefully crafted the show to be accessible to both sighted and blind audiences, with many elements serving both artistic and practical purposes.
Chong’s stage presence is magnetic, her voice carrying vulnerability and strength as she guides us through 15 years of dating as a blind woman. Echo Zhou 周芷會’s set design creates distinct spaces through varying textures, while Gloria Mok 莫嘉詠’s sound design and Steph Raposo’s lighting transform the theatre into an intimate confession booth one moment and a pulsing dance floor the next. Chong’s storytelling brings us into her past. Her voice — sometimes playful, sometimes raw with vulnerability — fills the theatre as she guides us through her time learning what she values in relationships.
Each story unfolds as a thoughtfully constructed memory, from awkward first meetings where potential suitors don’t know how to react to her blindness, to tender moments of connection that have nothing to do with sight at all. It’s when Chong breaks into song that the show truly soars. Her original music, performed live, becomes another language for expressing what words alone cannot capture.
Blind Dates demonstrates how the quest for love intertwines with self-discovery and intersectional identities. The audience becomes more than observers — we’re confidantes, cheerleaders, and friends. Chong opens the show by inviting the audience to laugh with her; throughout, her monologue often feels like a conversation.
Both Table for Two and Blind Dates expand our understanding of love stories and remind us that romance isn’t just about finding “the one” — it’s about the communities we build, the families we navigate, and the self-knowledge we gain along the way. Via distinct approaches, both productions suggest that perhaps the most important love story is the one we’re all still writing: the journey of embracing ourselves and our experiences.
Table for Two runs at Soulpepper Theatre until March 2, and Blind Dates runs at Theatre Passe Muraille until March 15. Tickets are available here and here, respectively.
Intermission reviews are independent and unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
Caroline Bellamy
Caroline Bellamy is a freelance writer and designer based out of Toronto. She recently graduated from the University of Toronto, where she studied medical anthropology and Spanish. During her undergraduate degree, she served on The Varsity's masthead for three years, most recently as the creative director. Her writing appears in The Varsity and Maclean's. She is passionate about storytelling, painting, and cats.
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iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
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