enlarge Courtesy of Portland Stage Company

J. Patrick McNamara and Cristine McMurdo-Wallis star in Portland Stage Company’s production of “The Gin Game,” a longtime favorite of audiences in southern Maine.

IF YOU GO

"THE GIN GAME," directed by Sally Wood

WHERE: Portland Stage Company, 25A Forest Ave.

WHEN: Previews at 7:30 tonight; opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday and continues with regular performances at 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Through Nov. 15.

TICKETS: $13 to $36. 774-0465; www.portlandstage.org

CAST AND CREW: Stars Cristine McMurdo-Wallis and J. Patrick McNamara; Anita Stewart, set and costume design; Shannon Zura, lighting; Stephen Swift, sound; Shane Van Vliet, stage manager

RUN TIME: 1:45 with intermission

PORTLAND — "The Gin Game," a tragic comedy about aging and friendship, has been produced the world over and received not one, but two successful productions on Broadway.

Each year, when Portland Stage Company surveys ticket buyers about plays to include in future seasons, "The Gin Game" rates as an audience favorite.

Finally, audiences have their wishes granted.

Beginning Friday, Portland Stage opens a three-week run of its version of playwright D.L. Coburn's classic story. It's the first time Portland Stage has produced the play, which premiered in Los Angeles in 1976 and opened on Broadway a year later with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in the lead roles.

This is a two-character play about the lonely side of aging, with moments of scathing humor. Weller and Fonsia are residents at a nursing home – strangers, really, until they meet at the card table. Weller has been a resident at the Bentley Retirement Home for some time, and Fonsia is a new resident.

She is distraught, and Weller befriends Fonsia with a game of gin. The friendly card games turn into psychological warfare as they break each other down and attempt to learn each other's secrets. The result is a card table thrown in anger.

It's set in modern times, and the action takes place over the course of a series of Sunday afternoons on the porch of the retirement home.

Sally Wood, a local actor and director, directs "The Gin Game" and brings an interesting perspective to her work. Wood is a new mom, and during the run-up to this show, she often walked with her baby on the grounds of a neighborhood retirement home.

She found herself looking in the windows and wondering about the lives of the people who live there.

"No one says, 'I can't wait to get older and move into a retirement home,"' muses Wood. "But, like Weller says in the play, he makes the point that if you live long enough, you're probably going to end up here."

This play stars Cristine McMurdo-Wallis as Fonsia and J. Patrick McNamara as Weller.

Although she lives in Louisiana, McMurdo-Wallis is a Portland Stage regular. "The Gin Game" will be her 10th show in the past six seasons at Portland Stage.

McNamara has extensive credits on the stage and screen. He's worked on stage in New York and Los Angeles, appeared in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "1941," among other movies, and on TV in "Dallas," "Knott's Landing" and "Hill Street Blues."

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:

bkeyes@pressherald.com