'Gin Game' deals out touching portrayals

A long-running card game parallels life for two nursing home residents.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Watching the comic drama "The Gin Game" at the New Castle Playhouse is like eavesdropping on someone else's conversation -- ordinary, yet curiously riveting.
The two-character play effectively pairs local theater veteran Jack Burford with newcomer Dolly Ashley as two feisty nursing home residents whose shared enthusiasm for playing cards leads to an edgy, on-again-off-again friendship.
There are plenty of laughs in this bittersweet comedy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright D.L. Coburn.
The dialogue pokes fun at life in a nursing facility and the indignities of growing old, but there are many poignant moments, and the play that debuted on Broadway in 1976 is still fresh and timely.
Burford is excellent as Weller Martin, a retired businessman who is frustrated and bitter about having to live out his last days in a run-down, low-budget home for the aged.
Complex character
Sarcastic and cynical, his character frequently flies into fits of rage, but Burford manages to make the man likable despite his crazy temper and rough language.
With his white hair wildly askew and his face beet red, just watching him rant is amusing.
Ashley does an impressive job as Fonsia Dorsey, a reserved, religious woman who also struggles with disappointment and regrets.
At first the pair finds solace and companionship over a game of gin, but Fonsia's unusual luck at the game eventually makes her the target of Weller's wrath.
Emotions escalate with each game she wins, and it's fun to watch her changing reactions -- at first, proud and jubilant, then ever more hesitant to announce another victory to her very excitable partner.
Backgrounds
Director Erica Stickel is presenting "The Gin Game" in the New Castle Playhouse Annex, a small theater where the audience sits at tables instead of theater seats. The intimate venue works well for the production.
Stickel also directed the comedy "The Star Spangled Girl" at the annex last year and has several acting and directing credits at other community theaters.
Last seen on the New Castle Playhouse stage in the drama "Indiscretions" in 2003, Burford is a playwright whose work received top honors in the Pittsburgh New Play Festival three years ago.
Ashley is new to the Playhouse stage. A recent retiree and avid theater-goer, she has taken drama courses at Slippery Rock University.
vinarsky@vindy.com