The Gin Game A TragiComedy in Two Acts Author:D. L Coburn Winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize, this play uses the game of gin rummy as a metaphor for life. As two inhabitants of a nursing home play cards, they reveal intimate secrets and details of their lives. In the end, who really is the winner? The original play opened on Broadway in 1977 starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, directed by Mike Nichols.