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Thespians Play "The Gin Game"

(10/31) The Thurmont Thespians begin their 2010-11 theatrical season with D.L. Coburn’s Pulitzer Prize winning comedy-drama, "The Gin Game" opening at the Thurmont American Legion, 8 Park Lane, Friday thru Sunday, Nov 5, 6 and 7 with three additional performances November 12, 13 and 14. This production co-stars two veteran Thespian actors, Beth Royer and Spence Watson and will be directed by J. Maxwell Beaver. Beth is currently President and Artistic Director of the Thurmont Thespians, which she and her husband Spence co-founded in 1998 as Thurmont’s resident non-profit community theatre. All tickets are $15 (includes free snacks and refreshments) and early reservations can be made by calling Mrs. Urian at 301-271-7613. Curtain time for the Friday and Saturday evening shows will be at 8 o’clock and 2PM for the Sunday matinees. There will also be a dinner theatre catered by Cozy Restaurant on Saturday evening, November 13 beginning at 6:30PM for an additional $15.00 with a cash bar.

"The Gin Game", the winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize, originally starred Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn and later revived with Julie Harris and Charles Durning, uses a game as a metaphor for life. Weller Martin is playing solitaire on the porch of a seedy nursing home. Enter Fonsia Dorsey, a prim, self righteous lady. They discover they both dislike the home and enjoy gin rummy so they begin to play and to reveal intimate details of their lives. "A thoroughly entertaining lesson in the fine art of theatrical finesse. The closest thing the theatre offers to a duel at 10 paces."-The New York Times. "Extremely intelligent..fine bittersweet comedy...Funny, sad, profane, eloquent, touching, beautiful."-WABC-TV. "Perfect...A vibrant study on loneliness, disillusion, old age and death yet fiercely funny."-The Boston Globe.

Beth Royer and Spence Watson have been performing together for 30 years and have appeared in numerous local and regional productions since, including "Same Time, Next Year", "Love Letters", "On Golden Pond", "Not Now, Darling", "It Runs In the Family" and "You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running". Beth was awarded Outstanding Actress in the 2004 Maryland State Community Theatre Festival for her performance in "Talking With". Spence was awarded Outstanding Actor in the 2003 Maryland State Community Theatre Festival for his performance in "Below the Belt" and as Tennessee Williams in the 2009 Pennsylvania Association of Community Theatres State Festival. Together, they also have received a First Place Award for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Ensemble Acting in the 2007 Pennsylvania Association of Community Theatres State Festival in the Blue Ridge Theatre Guild’s production of "I’m Herbert". Their production also finished in Third Place in the Eastern States Theatre Association Regional Competition in 2007

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