Hong Kong Repertory Theater (HKRep) will perform American playwright D. L. Coburn's two-person, two-act play The Gin Game at Beijing's Capital Theater.

As the story unfolds over a poker game, it is a bit like Lady Gaga's hit song Poker Face. But unlike Gaga's cheerful voice, the two lead roles have a serious tone.

Two lonely old people, Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, meet each other in a nursing house. Having no friends, Martin begins to teach Dorsey how to play gin rummy.

When the pair plays poker, they start talking about their families and lives. As Martin always loses and Dorsey always wins, their conversation turns into a witty quarrel, in which each of them tries to expose the other's weakness and sadness.

A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nominated for Best Play of Tony Award in 1978, The Gin Game has also received good reviews in China.

Two decades ago, Yu Shizhi and Zhu Lin from Beijing People's Art Theater performed it, bringing home an early flavor of foreign theater to the city's drama audiences. It was one of the few foreign plays that appeared on Beijing People's Art Theater's list.

HKRep performed it again at the end of last year. It went to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wuhan, winning praise wherever it went. This year, HKRep returns with the same cast. Pillars of the theater Qin Kefan and Sun Limin will take the lead roles.

As the conversation is like setting traps for each other, it leads the plot. The audience seemed to favor Dorsey last year when it was performed in Beijing. Every time she beat Martin the audience would applaud, and jeer at her defeated opponent.

Qin, who won the Hong Kong Theater Awards Best Actress for the role of Dorsey said: "This is the most difficult role of my theater career."

American-Chinese actress Lisa Lu translated the script 20 years ago. Considering the culture differences, she used The Foreign Mahjong as the title of the play.

She intended to take the lead role after finishing the translation, but due to a heavy schedule she missed her chance. Last year, when it toured China, Lu showed up at every performance, saying she was "realizing her dream as a member of the audience."