Tara Mary Aziz

The Gin Game Assignment

Please answer the following questions. Be detailed! 1 or 2 word answers are not acceptable.

1. Briefly summarize the plot/story.
The Gin Game is a story that explores the lives of two elders, Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey,
who live at a nursing home. Fonsia meets Weller when shes relatively new to the nursing home
and starts to get along with Weller; they both find that they share a dislike for their nursing
home and the mindsets that come along with it like the need for consistent entertainment, and
the excessive complaints from other elders. The title of the play The Gin Game comes from
exactly that a card game called Gin. Weller introduces this game to Fonsia and having played
for years and subsequently mastered the card game, gets incredibly angry when Fonsia beats
him at practically every single game. During each game, the two discuss their former lifestyles,
and at first their stories dont seem too bad. As Fonsia keeps beating Weller though and as
Weller gets more and more angry each time, he begins losing his temper and through curse
words and harsh accusations he releases the anger he has about his former life and attacks
Fonsia about hers. The story brings out the truth behind why the two elders are really at the
nursing home and where their lives are at, painting a picture far grayer than what they both
portrayed at their first meeting.
2. What are some of the themes of the play?
Some themes of the play I would say are denial, lack of closure, and religion. Denial is shown
through both characters; Weller denies his anger, over-exaggerations, and obsession over Gin,
and Fonsia denies her damaged relationship with her son, as well as the reason she is in a
nursing home. Both characters, by the end of the play, end up accepting their states. There is a
lack of closure that runs through the play; from the beginning of the play, both characters
complain about the nursing home, which reveals an open, unhappy wound about the place.
More into the play, both characters bring up their past including Wellers losses in business
because of his health and Fonsias bad marriage and still feel strongly about them, angry and
regretful inside. This indicates they have not made mental settlements with their past.
Methodism runs through the play as well, Fonsia even mentioning how strict her parents were
being conservative Methodists. Both characters swear upon the Lord when trying to sound
believable, church groups are frequent in the nursing home, and Fonsia repeatedly asks Weller
to not use the Lords name in vain around her.


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3. What was the climax in the play?
The climax in the play was the scene where Weller and Fonsia come clean about why it is
theyre so angry about why they ended up at the nursing home. For Weller, this was about his
heart-attacks and how they lost him his business and money, and for Fonsia this was about her
ruined relationship with her son. Weller truly loses his temper in this scene and sparks are flying
everywhere as even Fonsia lets out some curse words, releasing her anger. This scene is the
climax because it is when both characters realize what their feelings are and stop pretending to
be completely fine with all the problems theyve gone through.
4. What is the setting of the play (time, place)?
The setting of the play is at a nursing home center, and Im assuming it was set in the year
1976, since this is when it was first presented in theaters.

5. Briefly describe what you envision the set to be for this play.
I see the set for this play as very homey and domesticated. I see a few torn couches in a living
room with a bookcase near the back of the room around a corner. Theres a small kitchen with
a worn-out microwave, but all the necessities needed for small goods, like a cup of tea or cake. I
see Weller playing Gin with Fonsia away from the living room on a foldable wooden table, but
close enough to hear the TVs. The room he sits in most is quite small with hollow walls so they
can always hear whats going on around the center. The center is overall, though, very home-
like and simple, with basic entities. There are magazines and newspapers lying around, and for
some reason I see a rocking chair at the back of the room, as well as framed photos across the
mantle of a small fireplace.

6. Did this play speak to you or touch you in any way?
This play was beautiful to read. It definitely made me think a lot about the whole concept of
being alone. When the characters spoke of how they had no visitors, it upset me knowing they
both had children who were all grown up. This play made me laugh a little bit because I was
reading everything from the perspective of someone who has lived far longer than me and
therefore has seen and knows just so much more, so their outlook on things are slightly
different. I think I definitely learned a lot more about how some nursing homes run, and how
such a form of seclusion occupies people who have lost a lot. Indeed, this play touched me. It
made me think less about the small things I worry about, compared to what some people have
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gone through and pay for every day. I wish I could reunite Fonsia with her son again especially!
It drives me crazy seeing a relationship between mother and children like that!