By Kat Bryant
The Daily World
After an opening-weekend hiccup, the Driftwood Players are ready to live-stream Pulitzer Prize-winning entertainment for the holidays.
“The Gin Game” is a tragic comedy in two acts, written in the mid-1970s by D.L. Coburn. He received the Pulitzer for drama in 1978 for this work. Stacey Hopkins is directing the Driftwood production, featuring local acting veteran Brad Duffy and longtime Seattle character actor Pat Sibley.
“It’s really a privilege to have someone of Pat’s caliber here. She toured nationally for about 10 years and did lots of shows,” said Duffy.
The play was supposed to open last weekend, but suffered technical difficulties: The audio and video were not synced on the live feed during Friday’s performance, and Saturday’s was canceled because the issue had not yet been resolved.
“We’re making those adjustments today, and we’re going to do some tests and make sure we’re all good to go,” Duffy said on Monday. “Then we’ll be off and running!”
While playing solitaire on the porch of a seedy nursing home, Weller Martin (Duffy) meets Fonsia Dorsey (Sibley). The characters discover they both dislike the home and enjoy gin rummy, so they begin to play regularly. As time goes on, they reveal ever more intimate details of their lives; and gradually, each conversation becomes just as great a battle as their ongoing card games.
The play debuted in 1976 in Los Angeles and hit Broadway two years later, headlined by the venerable husband-and-wife acting team of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy – a tough act to follow.
“So many character actors – aka older people – would love to play this part,” laughed Sibley. “Because everybody has a lot of respect for (Cronyn and Tandy), so they think: If I do it, then I’ll get a lot of respect!”
She noted that it’s challenging because it’s a two-person show, and there are no breaks for either of them. “Now, we’re both in our 70s; so it’s hard to memorize anyway,” she said. “Then, on top of all those lines that you have to learn, you have to put gin games on top of it!”
The duo must pretend to play 14 unique gin games over the course of the show – and what’s happening in those games is what moves the story along.
“Many of the lines are so similar, you can accidentally find yourself in a different scene,” said Duffy. “It is hard, but we’ve laughed a lot during the rehearsal process.”
And they’ve been able to make plenty of time to practice. Duffy opened up a guestroom to Sibley for the course of this production so she wouldn’t have to travel so much for it. They’ve been friends for 26 years, but this is the first time they have shared a stage.
They’ve been working on the individual gin games at Duffy’s home since late September, running their lines and developing a system with the cards.
“We will sit at my dining room table for hours sometimes before we even go to rehearsal (at the theater). We do that every day,” said Duffy. “And yet here we are, sitting beside one another, still talking. We haven’t killed each other yet!”
He describes his character as “a cantankerous old man,” while Sibley says Fonsia is a woman committed to her religious beliefs. “She doesn’t like it when people cuss around her. She thinks it’s a flaw when people take the lord’s name so much,” she said.
“Oh, and I’m definitely flawed!” laughed Duffy.
The production will resume this Friday, streaming Dec. 4-5 and 11-12. Those who bought tickets for the first two performances are being emailed new links so they can watch on a subsequent date, Duffy said.
Tickets are $15 per household (not per person) and may be purchased through Driftwood’s website (aberdeendriftwood.com) up to 15 minutes prior to the 7:30 p.m. curtain time. An email will be sent to the buyer with a link to the YouTube channel to watch the live-streamed performance.
It’s not necessary to watch it live, either. When you purchase a ticket, you will have 24 hours (starting at curtain time) to view that performance on YouTube. You can also pause or rewind as needed.
Please note: This show includes adult language that may not be family-friendly.
If you have any questions or concerns, email livestream@aberdeendriftwood.com.
