Review: THE GIN GAME at MetroStage

There was a time on Broadway when acting couples made certain plays better than they actually were by giving tour-de-force performances. D.L. Coburn's The Gin Game is a prime example.

When it opened on Broadway in 1977, The Gin Game starred one of the best ever theatrical performing couples (Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy) and featured direction by Mike Nichols. It was preserved for PBS and garnered Tandy a Tony Award. Coburn also won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, in part due to the two performances. Since then, the play has seen two major Broadway revivals. The first was with the marvelous Julie Harris and a miscast Charles Durning in 1997. More recently, Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones performed it in 2015. Neither revival ran as long as the original production. There was also a TV movie with Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in 2003 as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Fast forward to the current production at MetroStage...

We find ourselves on Carl Gudenoius and Shuxing Fan's attractively designed set of Bentley Nursing Home. Weller Martin (Doug Brown) sits on the porch as a supposedly frail, diabetic named Fonsia Dorsey (Roz White) enters. We find out that Fonsia didn't want to be at Bentley and would have preferred the Presbyterian Home. The reason she isn't at her preferred home is due to, as she explains, "a rather unusual financial setup." Weller asks, "What's that?" Fonsia responds, "You have to give them all your money." To pass the time, Weller suggests that he and Fonsia play a few games of gin. Fonsia has never played the game before, but sees no harm in it. She beats Weller at every hand. Weller's temper and blood pressure rise with every win and eventually he gets violent, flipping the card table over and shouting obscenities. Weller does later apologize, but you can see where this is going.

On the surface, the plot doesn't seem like much. Two old people playing cards doesn't seem very interesting, but if you go deeper you realize that Coburn is trying to make a statement about the treatment of the elderly in American society and how families choose (or not) to deal with their loved ones as they get older. Believe it or not, they tried musicalizing The Gin Game once with a musical called Jokers. I can't even imagine.

The Gin Game has always relied on two strong actors to carry it. Unfortunately, while Roz White and Doug Brown are fine performers in their own right, they are not necessarily the best fit for this show. The characters are supposed to be in their mid-70's or older, or at least close to that age range. I don't know how old Roz White is, but she doesn't appear to be close to Fonsia's stated age. You simply can't put a grey wig on her, try to age her face, and give her a "mature" wardrobe to ensure a convincing portrayal. Likewise, if it weren't stated in the script that she has chronic diabetes, I would have never known she was ill. When she had a dizziness episode at one point, it didn't read to me in the audience.

Doug Brown is more age appropriate, but starts off the show with a little too much energy and a little too happy-go-lucky. As written, Weller is a cantankerous and bitter human being. As the show progresses, Brown's Weller becomes more and more ornery which is how it should have been from the top. He needs to start ornery and just get nastier. The choice to go from being happy-go-lucky to ornery and violent didn't do it for me, and because of this, some of the jokes Weller delivers do not come across as well in this production.

Director Thomas W. Jones II stages the show at a brisk, but not overly fast pace. He gets every ounce of pathos he can squeeze out of Coburn's script.

Alexander Keen's lighting has a few snazzy lightning effects built in to it and Sigridur Johannesdottir, with an assist from Kelvin Small, provide the costumes.

All in all, MetroStage's production of The Gin Game is more of an inside straight than a full house.

Running Time: One hour and 55 minutes with one intermission.

The Gin Game runs through March 12, 2017 at MetroStage which is located at 1201 North Royal Street in Alexandria, VA. For tickets, click here.

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