No eating, drinking or being merry for this couple?

INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE

As people return to dining inside eateries, International City Theatre (ICT) brings a reminder of a scenario some maybe don’t miss: a long wait for food. Streaming Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting April 29, “Slow Food” shows a couple celebrating their anniversary in a Greek restaurant in Palm Springs. But as Irene and Peter wait interminably for their neurotic waiter to serve them something, they examine their 30-year marriage.

“The play was inspired by a real evening I spent with my family,” playwright Wendy MacLeod explained in an interview. “Everybody was tired and hungry, and it was Sunday night, and we found one restaurant still open, and we sat down to order our meal, and we encountered the most extraordinary waiter that I’ve ever met. And by that, I mean bad—the worst waiter I have ever, ever had. And he seemed to kind of thrill to his power to control whether or not we got our food and drinks and when we got them and who got them first. It was just a fascinating character study.”

The virtual presentation was directed by Marya Mazor and stars Stu James and Meredith Thomas as the hangry couple and Perry Ojeda as their tormentor. MacLeod is best known as the author of “Women in Jeopardy!” and “The House of Yes,” the latter of which was adapted for a 1997 film of the same name.

“We all need to laugh—now more than ever,” says ICT artistic director caryn desai. “Of course there’s no substitute for live, human communication and connection. But, in the meantime, we must find ways to keep connected and engaged until we can once again come together safely.”

The Long Beach theater hopes to open Wendy Graf ’s “Closely Related Keys” to in-person audiences in late August.

Tickets to “Slow Food” are $30 per household and are available via www.InternationalCityTheatre.org

until May 16.