Michael Zegen and Heléne Yorke Photo by Joan Marcus

Woman (Heléne Yorke) and Man (Michael Zegen), as they are identified in the program (but named Jenny and Adam in the play), are meeting for the first time in a sleek and trendy bar after hooking up in an online dating app. Midway through their first drink, and after several clumsy attempts at humor, blundering small talk, and bungled self-revelations, in a massive understatement, Man admits, "We've sort of. Got off to an odd start."

Perhaps due to a strong sexual attraction, a weariness to have to go back to the app and start over, or a loosening of inhibitions by alcohol, the couple continues to spar, retreat and flirt. Courtship, the play suggests, is a battle of wills and a game won by strategy and cunning design. As she tells him, "We did know the risks tonight. We really ought to have stayed home and had an early night. But we didn't, did we? We came out in our nicest tops, didn't we, we came out fighting."

In the beginning of the play, it does not even seem to be a fair fight. She is aggressive and brutally honest. He is giggly and overly apologetic. As the night proceeds, the table turns. Literally.

Directed by Katie Posner, the production includes non-naturalistic elements that contribute to the sense of absurdity associated with conventional mating rituals. Arnulfo Maldonado's sleek and elegant set, for instance, includes the aforementioned revolving and unruly table. The effect allows the audience to see the characters' maneuvering from different vantage points as if looking at a rotating chess board. Jen Schriever's lighting is alternately romantic and ominous, and Tei Blow's atmospheric restaurant sound offers occasional reminders that the duo are not alone in the universe. Dede Ayite's costumes subtly expose hidden vulnerabilities.

The play was a critical and popular success when it debuted in the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was a massive hit at London's Soho Theatre. Running just over 70 minutes, the current iteration seems slight and ultimately unsatisfying. The reason may come down to chemistry.

Yorke, who has received excellent notices in HBO Max's "The Other Two" and was a memorable Olive in the musical Bullets Over Broadway, and Zegen, who is best known as Joe Maisel in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and was quite good in Trouble in Mind on Broadway a few seasons back, create believable character arcs. They gently peel back the layers of pain left by past relationships.

As potential lovers, though, Yorke and Zegen lack the requisite sparks. Their jabs and stabs, particularly early in the play, are devoid of sexual tension, and it isn't plausible that one or both hadn't left after the first drink. Regrettably, this is a blind date that seemed doomed from the first swipe.