Poker!

In a shabby New York shotgun house, a lively circle of card players gathers around a poker table, trading boasts, insults, songs, and hard-earned chips. Nunkie, a piano player with plenty to prove, is dared to join the game, while Tush Hawg, Black Baby, Sack Daddy, Too-Sweet, and Peckerwood size one another up across the cards. Their talk is rhythmic, comic, and full of colorful boasts about luck, love, money, and survival.

The game grows tense as each player draws, raises, bluffs, and quietly reaches for an extra ace. Aunt Dilsey interrupts with stern warnings about gambling and damnation, but her disapproval only adds to the players’ mischievous energy. Set almost entirely in one crowded room, this sharp, fast-moving play captures a group of friends—and rivals—whose poker faces conceal pride, rivalry, romantic grievances, and a talent for bending the rules. Audiences can listen for the crackling dialogue and the changing balance of power with every deal.