Gin Game, The

Gin Game, The (1977), a play by D.L. Coburn. [John Golden Theatre, 517 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] At a home for the aged, the cantankerous, somewhat unstable Weller Martin ( Hume Cronyn) invites Fonsia Dorsey ( Jessica Tandy) to play gin rummy with him. As the couple play, they reveal their personal histories. But Fonsia's persistent winning provokes Weller's ire, and when he explodes in a profane rage, the games are apparently over. To many the Shubert production exemplified the peculiar state of American playwriting of its day. Soaring costs made two‐character plays commonplace, and this was the first to win a Pulitzer Prize. Almost by necessity these plays had minimal plots and action, consisting instead simply of dialogue. Yet when this play toured, it was often performed in large auditoriums, and the Cronyns sometimes resorted to amplification. A 1997 revival with Julie Harris and Charles Durning was successful.