‘Dealer’s Choice’ hooks viewers on poker game antics
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 11, 1998 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 12, 1998
‘Dealer’s Choice’ hooks viewers on poker game antics
THEATER: Play explores family relationships, addiction to
gambling
By Michelle Zubiate
Daily Bruin Contributor
When life deals you a royal flush, you know the time has arrived
to cash in your chips and head to Vegas. However, when all you can
pull off are a pair of deuces, then the game must go on.
This never-ending poker dream recycles itself nightly in form of
the Mark Taper Forum’s production of Patrick Marber’s "Dealer’s
Choice." Every performance deals the same darkly crass humor and
honest emotions through the story of five men playing poker and
relating to each other’s addictions, whether they be compulsive
gambling or foolish dreams.
The opening dialogue begins with the gambler’s national anthem,
"Luck Be A Lady Tonight." From there the game of poker remains the
established motif of the plot as five men live its metaphor for the
hands life often deals, be they prosperous, fair or cursed. Either
way, both the cleverly written banter and moments of serious
dialogue give the audience a well-rounded insight into the male
perspective on relationships between friends, coworkers and
family.
The play takes the audience to a small restaurant in London
where deadbeat father Sweeney resides as head chef, lovably
clueless Mugsy and amusingly cynical Frankie serve the meals, and
Stephens manages his place single-handedly. Together they joke on
and on about Mugsy’s dream to go into business with Stephen’s
gambling-addicted son, Carl.
Even more amusing, Carl and Mugsy plan to open a restaurant out
of a public toilet in the industrial section of town, the Mile End
Road. One can just imagine how many cracks come from that single
aspect. (For instance, "Your usual cubicle, sir?" or "Do you think
it wise to have a restaurant where the ladies and the gents have to
eat separately?")
The action all occurs within one night. They open and close the
restaurant and retire to their game. Meanwhile, Sweeney stresses
over finally seeing his daughter the next day and having enough
money to do so while Carl worries over more substantial money
problems. He owes Ash – a "professional poker player" and his
mentor – $4,000, and the time to pay has arrived.
Each actor fits the part both in acting ability and physical
appearance. Viewers first meet the small, balding goof Mugsy
(Patrick Kerr),who remains far from brilliant but wins the
spotlight every time he opens his mouth. He’s the butt of all jokes
and can’t play poker to save his life, but he also never gives up,
triumphantly punctuating his few wins with "Mugsy’s on a roll!"
It’s also no coincidence that he’s called Mugsy. To be a "mug"
means to be a terrific loser at the table. Kerr pulls off every
dimwitted line with perfect timing and that certain zing that
places Mugsy’s character in line with the great goofs of our
century from Jerry Lewis to Gilligan.
Most importantly, however, is the conflict between father and
son. Carl refuses, out of foolish pride, to ask his father for the
money to pay back the loan. The tense love always remains on the
side of actor Denis Arndt, who conveys Stephen’s wisdom and
vulnerability toward generosity in an endearingly sympathetic
nature.
Unfortunately, Carl’s role remains far too undeveloped in the
play’s writing for actor Adam Scott to give the character any life
beyond a punk kid who has a problem with compulsive gambling and
pride.
Robert Egans’ remarkably inventive direction adds to the great
casting. The lower portion of the stage serves as the restaurant’s
dining room, and all conversation held there remained isolated from
that of the kitchen. At one point on the stage, parallel arguments
occurred between both the father and son in the dining room, and
Sweeney and Frankie in the kitchen. The dialogue took nice even
turns until they were stepping on each others’ lines in a climactic
rush of passionate anger.
The staging also gave the audience great visual realism as Act 3
in the basement occurred from underneath the raised platform that
held the dining room from Acts 2 and 3.
Despite those concerns that the poker lingo would soar over the
audience’s heads, the writing dealt with it in an extremely
comprehensible fashion while creating insight into the game.
The crowd’s attention and focus remained intense on every word
of the play, and with good reason. The writing showed a certain
honest charisma between those underlying human emotions among male
relationships often overlooked in everyday life.
They all had to deal with an obsession, both the shared devotion
to gambling and the need for better dealings.
THEATER: "Dealer’s Choice" runs now through May 31 at the Mark
Taper Forum at 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Ticket prices range
from $29 to $37. Call (213) 628-2772 for more information.
