2011-2012 SEASON • Gin Game

Bunbury’s “Gin Game” Is a Heartfelt Production of a Funny and Touching Play
The Gin Game

Written by D.L. Coburn
Directed by Juergen K. Tossman

Reviewed by Keith Waits

Entire contents copyright © 2012 Keith Waits. All rights reserved.

For those of a certain age (at least as old as me) or erstwhile historians of local theatre history, we know Louisville has an important claim on this play. As Juergen Tossman’s program notes remind us, The Gin Game was given an early production at Actors Theatre – one of the first entries in the Humana Festival of New American Plays in 1977. (Was it even called that back then?) It was a hit in New York and has been a popular choice in theatres around the country ever since.

Matt Orme & Liz Vissing in The Gin Game.
Photo courtesy of Bunbury Theatre.
Certainly it is an economical play to produce: an aging couple playing gin for 90 minutes will not strain anyone’s budget, but more importantly, it is also economical in its storytelling. A lean and focused script heavy on dialogue that delineates the developing friendship between two contrasting characters: the irascible and quick-tempered Weller Martin, played by Bunbury mainstay Matt Orme; and the sweet-natured Fonsia Dorsey, played by Liz Vissing. Four sharply written scenes full of humor, rage, and tenderness chart a modestly scaled but nonetheless affecting relationship that assiduously avoids clichés enough to remain fresh and meaningful to audiences more than 35 years after it was written.

The script is fertile ground for two good actors to work in, and this production features fine work from a couple of veteran players. Liz Vissing never gets too prim and proper, and balances the character’s lack of guile with a nice starchy quality. Matt Orme builds his frustration with such care and intelligent observation that Weller’s explosive anger seems entirely natural. Together they discover the humor organically, from within the story, anchoring their work in the humanity of the characters. The discipline of the performances perfectly matches the restraint of the script.

The production is beautifully designed by Steve Woodring, who gives the spare but nicely detailed setting an understated, rueful flavor, with equally no-nonsense but still evocative costumes by Thomas Leigh.

Bunbury has delivered a swift yet heartfelt reading of a funny and touching play that has never worn out its welcome. The Gin Game hasn’t been around Louisville for some time, and it would be a shame to let this one pass by. You have one more weekend to catch it.

The Gin Game

February 9-26, 2012

Bunbury Theatre
at the Henry Clay
604 S. Third St.
Louisville, KY
(502) 585-5306
www.bunburytheatre.org

Directors Notes

I'm pleased to be working on this outstanding production! I've enjoyed every minute of rehearsals and look forward to these gifted actors performing in this outstanding play! This show isn't easy. The actors have about 10 or 12 games of Gin that they play during the course of the show and each game comes with it's own dynamic. This makes for a very tedious rehearsal process.....but the rewards of learning the rhythm are great and the payoffs are worth the price of admission. Come join us for a truly marvelous evening of theatre!

Cast & Credits

The Cast:

Weller Martin - Matt Orme
Fonsia Dorsey - Liz Vissing

The Creative Team: 
Juergen K. Tossmann  Producing Artistic
Director –Juergen K. Tossmann
Set Design - Steve Woodring

Showtimes / February 2012

NEW! THIS SEASON-OPENING NIGHTS ARE FRIDAY
Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Sundays at 2:00 PM

ABOUT THE PLAY

The Gin Game opened on Broadway on October 6, 1977 at the John Golden Theatre and ran for 517 performances. The play was directed by Mike Nichols and starred the married couple Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. The play has come to be closely associated with them. Jessica Tandy won the 1978 Tony Award -- Best Actress in a Play. Cronyn and Tandy were replaced in the original Broadway run by E.G. Marshall and Maureen Stapleton.

It was produced in the United Kingdom in 1999 with Joss Ackland and Dorothy Tutin at the Savoy Theatre, directed by Frith Banbury.

It was revived on Broadway in 1997 at the Lyceum Theatre where it ran for 145 performances. Charles Durning and Julie Harris co-starred, directed by Charles Nelson Reilly. It received Tony Award nominations for Best Revival of a Play, Leading Actress in a Play and Direction of a Play.

Gin Game

by DL Coburn

February 10-26 --This winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize, which originally starred Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn and later revived with Julie Harris and Charles Durning, uses a game as a metaphor for life. Weller Martin is playing solitaire on the porch of a seedy nursing home. Enter Fonsia Dorsey, a prim, self righteous lady. They discover they both dislike the home and enjoy gin rummy so they begin to play and to reveal intimate details of their lives.

"A thoroughly entertaining lesson in the fine art of theatrical finesse. The closest thing the theatre offers to a duel at 10 paces."-The New York Times

"Extremely intelligent..fine bittersweet comedy...Funny, sad, profane, eloquent, touching, beautiful."-WABC-TV

"Perfect...A vibrant study on loneliness, disillusion, old age and death yet fiercely funny."-The Boston Globe