As six high-achieving debutantes interrupt their preparations to sneak a look into the glittering ballroom, The Harriet Holland Social Club’s esteemed Madam President does everything she can to make sure it all goes well. No teary-eyed smudges, no unraveling lace, no unraveling ANYTHING. Because if she can’t control these girls, whatever will they think over at Table 4?

Experienced as a Black debutante ball in a large American city in real time—and featuring an all-Black-women company and creative team, down to its three-piece band—The Cotillion interrogates the complexities of Black debutante ball culture and finds that beneath all the respectability politics and sweet serenades lie contradictions even quality make-up can’t cover up.