"The Gin Game" at Park Square Theatre

After a couple of big shows (the world premiere mystery Holmes/Poirot and the joyously chaotic The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!), Park Square Theatre's return season continues with something a little smaller and more intimate, but no less affecting. The two-hander The Gin Game won the Pulitzer Prize in 1978 and has starred some legendary pairs (including original Guthrie company members Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, and Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones). It's being brought to life on Park Square's Andy Boss Stage by some local legends. It's a sweet and salty little play (that would make a great 90-minute-no-intermission show if not for the intermission) with masterful performances by Greta Oglesby and Terry Hempleman that are a joy to watch. The Gin Game plays Thursdays through Sundays until February 23 at Park Square Theatre, with James Rocco's Songbook Series: Broadway in Love happening upstairs in the main theater on Valentine's weekend.

The play takes place at Bentley Nursing Home in an unnamed city on three consecutive Sunday visitors' days, plus one Monday night dance lesson. Two residents, Weller (Terry Hempleman) and Fonsia (Greta Oglesby), meet on the porch of the home, where they seem to be escaping the rest of the residents and the busyness of visitors' day. We soon find out that neither of them has many visitors, and they begin to find a connection as Weller teaches Fonsia to play gin. But don't let the photo on the cover of the program fool you - this is not a happy ending kind of story. Weller loves to play gin (perhaps obsessively so), and despite Fonsia's insistence that she's never played it before (just occasionally the similar game rummy), she continues to win every game. Weller at first is annoyed, and then becomes increasingly enraged to the point where he drives Fonsia away. But the frenemies continue to be drawn together, despite the pain they cause over their gin disagreements, that really run much deeper.

Terry Hempleman and Greta Oglesby (photo by Rich Ryan)

Greta and Terry are two titans of #TCTheater, who I'm not sure have ever worked together. But they're both gems and have a fun prickly chemistry. Greta does this humming thing as Fonsia is pondering her cards which is so charming, even more so as it annoys Terry's Weller, with his increasingly funny aggressive dealing of the cards (one-one-two-two-three-three...). I could watch these two play cards for hours, and that's what much of the play is. But it's also about so much more, and despite being much younger and more vital than the characters they play, Terry and Greta both truthfully embody the humanity of these flawed but endearing characters. They're directed by another #TCTheater titan Faye M. Price, with nice pacing that allows for occasional silences, and a tone that emphasizes the comedy and camaraderie as well as also the sharpness and antagonistic elements.

Greta Oglesby and Terry Hempleman (photo by Rich Ryan)

It's such a smart choice to stage this play in the thrust stage in the basement of the Historic Hamm Building, instead of the larger proscenium theater at street level. The intimate story could get lost in a larger space, but in the Andy Boss Stage we're up close and personal, able to take in every facial expression or small physical movement. The detailed and realistic set looks every bit the well-loved run-down porch, compete with deck furniture, a beat-up card table, books and games and other outdoor equipment. The lighting dims or brightens as needed, including blackouts differentiating the four scenes, and the sound design helps us imagine what's happening inside but out of sight. It all comes together in the final scene rainstorm that feels like we'll walk out of the theater into rain instead of snow. Completing the look of the play (that could be set in the '70s or today or anywhere in between) are the shabby chic costumes, with Weller noticeably sprucing things up after he meets his new friend. (Scenic design by Joseph Stanley, lighting design by Kurt Jung, sound design by Katharine Horowitz, costume design by Sarah Bahr, prop design by Brandt Roberts.)

This play was written almost 50 years ago, but it feels so timely and relevant today (as so many things do). It subtly speaks to the rising cost of health care and long-term care, the often disrespectful and neglectful way that we treat our elders, and what we're left with when we take stock at the end of our lives (if we're lucky enough to live that long). I really wanted Fonsia and Weller to be friends and find what they needed in each other, but it's not that kind of play. Maybe I'll imagine the next Sunday when they make up and continue to talk, fight, bond, and play cards.

The Gin Game officially opens tonight (I attended a preview performance) and continues through February 23 at Park Square Theatre in downtown St. Paul. I recommend using the added intermission to try one of the delicious gin cocktails at concessions (along with Thomasina Petrus' famous cashew brittle).

The Weller (photo credit: @cherryspoon Instagram)