The Gin Game Revival
Two hours, with one intermission
The Gin Game - 2015 Broadway History , Info & More
John Golden Theatre (Broadway)
252 West 45th St. New York, NY
Weller Martin (James Earl Jones) and Fonsia Dorsey (Cicely Tyson) meet on the porch of their nursing home and strike up a friendship, with Weller teaching Fonsia how to play gin rummy. As they play, they share stories about the lives they led in the outside world. But when Fonsia wins every hand, Weller becomes increasingly frustrated, until their gin games and conversations become a battleground, with each player exposing the other's failures, disappointments and insecurities.
Mr. Jones and Ms. Tyson are sharing a Broadway stage for the first time since 1966, when they appeared in A Hand Is On The Gate at the Longacre Theatre. They also starred in the long-running Off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks. They starred opposite each other in the film The River Niger and the TV movie "Heat Wave." Mr. Jones is a two-time Tony Award winner (Fences, The Great White Hope), three-time Emmy Award winner ("Heat Wave," "Gabriel's Fire," "Summer's End") and the recipient of a Grammy Award and an Honorary Academy Award. Ms. Tyson is a Tony Award-winner (The Trip to Bountiful), a three-time Emmy Award winner ("The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," "The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All") and an Academy Award nominee (Sounder).
The Gin Game - 2015 - Broadway Cast
PREVIEW The Gin Game - 2015 - Broadway
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FEATURED REVIEWS FOR The Gin Game
Review: James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson Shuffle Emotions in ‘The Gin Game’
8 / 10
Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, residents of a modest retirement home and the sole characters in D. L. Coburn's 1976 play, 'The Gin Game,' have withdrawn from the world, willingly or not, and await the inevitable end with minimal protest. By contrast, James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson, who are playing these roles in the excellent Broadway revival of Mr. Coburn's flinty comedy, still seem to be in their glowing prime, actors with long and distinguished careers behind them who nevertheless keep seeking further heights to scale...Mr. Coburn's play cannot exactly be called an Everest of contemporary drama. Still, it proves a sturdy, humming vehicle, its gentle comedy undergirded by dark emotional coloring...Mr. Jones and Ms. Tyson draw out all its nuances, as Weller and Fonsia bicker and make nice over a card table. These two superlative performers establish beyond doubt, if we needed any reminding, that great talent is ageless and ever-rewarding.
The Gin Game
6 / 10
Together, the stars of The Gin Game, James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson, are 175 years old. They draw from massive piles of skill and goodwill, and watching these masters play the audience is a delight. Watching them play cards for two hours, however, is less compelling. Jones is the ornery, hypercompetitive Weller; Tyson is the prim, shrewd Fonsia...As they chat, flirt and turn on each other, the play asks us to consider how much of their isolation stems from bad hands they've been dealt, and how much from bad judgment...Leonard Foglia's revival lacks that sense of purpose in its shape. The age of the actors perhaps makes them slower and cuter than might be ideal; the result is likable but shambling.
The Gin Game History
Other Productions of The Gin Game
| 1977 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1997 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 2015 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
The Gin Game - 2015 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Cicely Tyson |
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | D.L. Coburn |
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