Dealer’s Choice

Shattered Globe presents Patrick Marber’s Dealer’s Choice, directed by Steve Scott. This hilarious and enthrallingly detailed portrait of male relationships is framed by a world of addiction and betrayal. In a modest London restaurant, small-time gamblers Sweeney, Frankie, and Mugsy serve food, bicker, and concoct far-flung schemes as they prepare for their weekly poker game with restaurant owner Stephen and his debt-ridden son Carl. After countless nights spent around the same table the players know the odds and one another inside out. But their friendly game takes a sudden and serious turn when a suspiciously skilled newcomer enters their midst. On this night deep wounds are exposed and old scores must be settled as the desperate would-be winners vie for supremacy. By turns hauntingly brutal and startlingly sincere, this biting comic drama is a compelling account of the risks and rewards of life’s high-stakes gambles.