The Cast
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Tony Mockus, Jr. (Weller Martin) It's a long, long time from the summer of '46 when 16 year old Tony Mockus the “Leading Man” of the Lucerne Garden Theatre in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin shared the stage with 14 year old apprentice Ann Stevenson (Whitney). Throughout their professional lives residing a mile apart in Evanston their paths did not cross until August of 2002 when they were cast in On Golden Pond at Drury Lane Oakbrook.
In the intervening years, Tony primarily devoted himself to the stage, frequently working at the Drury Lane theatres, The Guthrie, Meadowbrook, Organic, Forum, and Goodman where he created the original A Christmas Carol. From 1986-94 he concentrated on film and television in Hollywood – enjoying feature roles in F.I.S.T., Backdraft, The Untouchables, Caddy Shack II, She's Having a Baby and others.
The Vienna English Theatre engaged him for a summer in Vienna doing The Gin Game. It is a pleasure to recreate this role working once again with Ann Whitney. In another satisfying professional coincidence, both Tony and Ann were celebrated last year as outstanding North Shore actors. Additionally, Tony is gratified to have received the 2006 Crystal Award from the Chicago Drama League.
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Ann Whitney (Fonsia Dorsey) was last seen on the Apple Tree stage in a Jeff award nominated performance as A in Edward Albee's Three Tall Women. She was also honored for this work by being named the best female actor of 2006 in Critics Pick in Pioneer Press. You may have seen her before at Apple Tree Theatre in My Old Lady, also directed by Brian Russell, and in Pygmalion. Over the years, she has appeared at Court Theatre, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Northlight, Victory Gardens, American Theater Company, and Lincolnshire Marriott. Some of her favorite roles in addition to the ones mentioned above were The Trip to Bountifu l , A Little Night Music, Eleanor, Over the Tavern, and Driving Miss Daisy to name just a few. She can be seen in commercials (most recently for Lifeline and Glade ), theatrical films (including Home Alone and The Fugitive ) and industrial films (notably the one you see at traffic school!) She does voice over work and has recorded several episodes of The Twilight Zone.
She is delighted to join Tony Mockus in The Gin Game. They have been friends for many years, but only worked together for the first time a couple of years ago in On Golden Pond at Drury Lane Oakbrook. It is an honor to share the stage with him again. Special thanks to Bill Whitney and Bob Harris.
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Press
Pioneer Press feature
Copley News Service review
Daily Herald review cast | press | photos | background | tickets
Highlights from the Pioneer Press feature by Catey Sullivan
Game over. Such is the careless attitude of the world toward the senior citizens of the run-down nursing home in D.L. Coburn's "The Gin Game." Propped up in wheelchairs like "rows of wrinkled pumpkin heads," the elders are nameless, "glassy-eyed old bastards," forgotten, shelved and waiting to die. It's no coincidence that the tragi-comedy opening in previews April 18 at Highland Park 's Apple Tree Theatre is set on a porch amid the clutter of cast-off furniture.
Despite the grim setting, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play is at once wickedly funny (yes, funny), provocative and limned with unlikely hope, said director Brian Russell. It is also something of a cautionary tale.
"There are between 17 or 18 million or so people in nursing homes today in the U.S. If you put their average age at 72 or even 75, we're talking about 200 million or so years of life. That's a pretty significant chunk of collective experience to just warehouse," Russell said. "If this piece does anything, I hope it gets people to think about their relationships with the seniors in their lives and not take them for granted."
Living nightmare
As its title implies, "The Gin Game" centers, at least superficially, on a card game. Or rather, on an ongoing series of card games between Fonsia and Weller, both relative newcomers to the kind of nightmare nursing home almost everyone fears winding up in.
As the games progress, the everyday, frighteningly unremarkable tragedies that led both seniors to a place without family or friends are gradually revealed. And the unlikely pair -- she's a genteel preacher's daughter, he's short-tempered blow hard whose default vocabulary is all expletives -- forms a bond. But don't look for a wealth of warm fuzzies and a touching, twilight-years romance, Russell warns. The humor here is more acidic than sweet, and Coburn doesn't sugarcoat the loneliness that comes with having outlived one's friends and one's usefulness to one's family.
For actors Ann Whitney (Fonsia) and Tony Mockus (Weller), "The Gin Game" marks their third collaboration in acting careers that span a combined total of more than 120 years. The pair first worked together in 1946. Then, Mockus, 16 and Whitney, 14 were both cast in the Lucerne Garden Theatre production of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" in Lake Geneva , Wisconsin . In the 61 years since, Mockus and Whitney have had full careers on Chicago stages and in film and television. But they didn't work together again until roughly two years ago, when they did "On Golden Pond" at the Drury Lane, Oak Brook.
When Russell approached them about doing "The Gin Game," he didn't have to ask twice.
"The chance to work with Ann again drew me to the piece as much as the play itself," said Mockus. "Some actresses, you can't get through to their insides, can't break through the shell. But by God, with Ann, you're right there."
Not total gloom
The play itself, Russell, Whitney and Mockus all stress, is not an unrelenting despairfest despite its unvarnished view of old people trapped in a world that glorifies youth.
"Fonsia and Weller are flip sides of a single coin. They have an opportunity to complete each other. To love again, but they're each crippled to an extent by their past. They've got anger they just can't let go of," Russell said. "There's this notion that we always hurt the ones we love, and these two sure hurt each other. But it's pretty clear that they love each other too. At least in a way. When you add to that the fact that they've been kind of tossed away tossed away into this old age home, that lends another layer of poignancy to the piece."
"Fonsia and Weller, they put up a façade for each other," Whitney added. "Which we all do to a certain extent, so the play is kind of like putting a mirror up to ourselves. There are parts of these people that you will recognize. I would hope that maybe people see that mirror and realize they don't want to end up like that, letting anger rule their lives."
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Highlights from the Copley News Service review by Dan Zeff
"The Gin Game" is the only two-character play to win
the Pulitzer Prize. It's also become something of an annuity for senior
citizen performers. Those are about the only two distinctive features about
the show.
Now, the Apple Tree Theatre is reviving the D. L. Coburn comedy-drama
featuring Tony Mockus and Ann Whitney, a pair of stalwarts on the
Chicagoland theater scene for decades.
So "The Gin game" does have its entertaining and thoughtful moments. And
Mockus and Whitney fit the characters perfectly.
Bryan Russell directs with a sharp eye for the play's humor and its
emotional confrontations. Dustin Efird designed the set and lighting and
Nicole Winning designed the costumes.
The show gets a rating of 3 stars. cast | press | photos | background | tickets
Highlights from the Daily Herald review by Barbara Vitello
In a cluttered sun porch in a run-down nursing home, surrounded by cast-off furniture, cast-offs Fonsia Dorsey and Weller Martin play rummy.
Thus describes the plot of "The Gin Game," Donald Coburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning tragi-comedy about a pair of lonely seniors who have a falling out over cards.
It has the makings of a love story, but Coburn confounds expectations. Rather than romanticize this prickly pair (about as far removed from the cuddly grandmotherly and grandfatherly types as you can get) he reveals their anger, frustration and bitterness. Therein lies the power of "The Gin Game," which unfolds as a battle of wills between two people - not strangers but not quite friends - who have no option but to play the cards they've been dealt.
Apple Tree Theatre's revival directed by Brian Russell, pairs Tony Mockus (as the cantankerous Weller) with Ann Whitney (as the sanctimonious Fonsia). It is a funny, engrossing, artfully wrought production featuring a pair of Chicago veterans still at the top of their game.
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Photos
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Director's Note
According to the CDC, there were 1.6 million residents living in 17,000 nursing homes in the United States in 1997 – the most recent data available, surprisingly. This figure represents nearly 5% of those over 65 years of age, a population that is expected to grow from 34.5 million in 1999 to 53.3 million in 2020 – and increase of 51%! Let's consider the 1.6 million nursing home residents back in 1997 for a moment. If we assumed their average age to be 70, then these residents would therefore represent a staggering 112 million years of collective living, loving, learning, and growing. And, too many of them are warehoused. Set aside. Some are forgotten.
Certainly not all nursing homes are like the one we experience in The Gin Game. Not all nursing homes force seniors to essentially give up all of their assets in return for some sense of security and well being. Since The Gin Game premiered, there have been many positive developments in senior care, and perhaps even in how society as a whole thinks about and relates with senior citizens. But, it seems to me we still have a long way to go.
Many have written about the ‘disposable' nature of our society. Of consumerism and materialism and other forces and factors that contribute to the ease with which we can sometimes turn our back upon our elders, or neglect to recognize the wisdom and heart and humor and sheer humanity that is too often untapped and underappreciated. Hopefully spending this next hour or two with Weller and Fonsia will provide a vivid and enjoyable reminder that people are to be treasured, not thrown away.
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