The Gin Game

This is an amazing play. The emotional roller coaster the script takes you on is one you’ll not soon forget. PBS aired a version with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore shortly after 9/11/2001. I did not have the script at that point, and was admittedly drawn to it by seeing a reunion of Rob and Laura Petrie.

While it had its lighter moments, it was a reunion from Hell. I was not prepared to hear them drop the f-bomb. And mind you, this was airing on PBS. However, when they rebroadcast it several months later, the volume was cut to silence the word; a bad decision in my opinion. In a world where we’re saturated with foul language, it was refreshing to have a situation slowly build up, culminating to a point that demanded that word choice.

As shocking as it was to hear Rob and Laura curse, upon receiving the script I learned that Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn originated the roles, with Mike Nichols directing. Well, I can see Hume Cronyn swearing, but not Jessica Tandy. Not Miss Daisy. Though we think of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as “married,” Cronyn and Tandy really were. Those marriages, real or not, add a neat level of subtext.

After reading the script, and letting it sink it, I realized it would take a deft and firm hand as director to get the performances required. I’m not claiming I possess such a hand, but I have a dream cast in mind that would make the job almost effortless. Hmm … Could this be done in the round? …

Ok, before I get even further off base …

The play involves a number of games of gin. Looking at my image archive, I found some pictures of playing cards, but none of them called out to me. So, I grabbed a deck of cards. Early shots looked pretty much like what was already in the files. I really wish I had the deck my late grandma and I played cards with. It was decades old when we started playing, the weathering would be perfect.

How about giving it a slightly surreal look by floating the cards in darkness? I placed a black cloth on a card table, but I didn’t flatten it out. By leaving folds and ripples, you get a little depth when shooting from above. Then I tossed the cards onto the fabric, randomly flipping them so there’s a mix of backs and fronts. I took a series of bursts from different angles.

When looking at the results, I found I had accidentally bumped the table during one of those bursts. It looked like the cards were being thrown. I knew I could never replicate that deliberately. (I love happy accidents.) Though I made the image black and white, the lack of color does not decrease the drama of the shot.