Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, two elderly residents at a nursing home for senior citizens, strike up an acquaintance. Neither seems to have any other friends, and they start to enjoy each other's company. Weller offers to teach Fonsia how to play gin rummy, and they begin playing a series of games that Fonsia always wins. Weller's inability to win a single hand becomes increasingly frustrating to him, while Fonsia becomes increasingly confident. While playing their games of gin, they engage in lengthy conversations about their families and their lives in the outside world. Gradually, each conversation becomes a battle, much like the ongoing gin games, as each player tries to expose the other's weaknesses, to belittle the other's life, and to humiliate the other thoroughly.
Acting
Tandy and Cronyn married 40+ years — the venom hits different.
Writing
D.L. Coburn's Pulitzer dialogue that stings like gin itself.
Director
Terry Hughes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tandy and Cronyn originated these roles on Broadway in 1977; this TV film reunited them after 14 years. Real marriage, fictional hatred.
The 1978 Pulitzer for Drama went to this two-hander — rare for a play with zero set changes and only props: two chairs, one table, cards.
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