The Gin Game is not set in any particular geographical location or any specific time period. Conduct a small group discussion about the other plays that you know that also have no specific location or time period or both. Compare this characteristic of the play with those that must be placed in a particular time or place and with those, such as Romeo and Juliet, that were given a particular time and place but that have been reset in other times and places.

The setting of The Gin Game is a nursing home for the elderly. Visit a few nursing homes and record your impressions. Among those you visit, choose one that will likely have residents on welfare, like Weller and Fonsia, and one that is advertised as more of an upscale “retirement residence.” Write an essay explaining the differences and similarities...