Olivia Shea and Pat Owens — actors, directors and friends who first performed together about 45 years ago — together have 100 years of theater experience.

It is only natural they will take on the characters of Fonsia Dorsey and Weller Martin as the two-character cast in “The Gin Game.”

This Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Donald L. Coburn was the only play the author wrote. Dimitri Gerasimenko, normally a stage and production manager, will be directing the play for the first time.

“Most people are going to be able to relate to this,” Gerasimenko said. “It’s something everybody knows.”

“The Gin Game” features two characters, Fonsia and Weller, who meet in a retirement home and find companionship in each other — and in gin rummy.

When Weller teaches Fonsia to play, the characters learn more about each other exploring the themes of aging, family, life’s choices, companionship and love.

Gerasimenko said this is his first play as a director. He said while this is only a two-person play, the respect he has for Shea and Owens and vice versa allows the three of them to work together as a team to make the show as good as it can be.

“I’m very comfortable with the relationship with them,” Gerasimenko said. “There is a lot of respect between the three of us.”

Shea and Owens have a history of theater experience together both in acting and directing. The performers first acted together in Spokane in 1972 and reconnected years later after Shea and Owens both moved to Sequim at separate times in their lives.

“I moved out here way before he did and then I saw him at a play one time and said, ‘Oh my God, there’s Pat!” Shea said. This will be the first performance where the show will just star the two of them.

“The idea of being able to do this show with someone I knew — and I knew he was a very good actor — I thought that was fun.”

Shea also said she directed this play 20 years ago and still has a love for the story and its characters.

“I loved the characters because they’re drawn pretty well and the dialogue is natural; I thought I’d always love to play that part,” she said.

Owens shares the same sentiments and said he enjoyed the play and thought it would be the perfect opportunity for him and Shea to act in a play together again.

“I liked the show since the first time I read it and suggested to the theater they keep it as a last-minute substitute,” Owens said. “It would be a good show for Olivia and I to do together.”

Owens said he had not planned on auditioning for the part because he was just coming off a show in Port Angeles, but when he received an email from Shea saying, “You should do ‘The Gin Game,’” he agreed it would be a great opportunity.

“We’ve never been in a play where it’s just the two of us,” Shea said.

When it comes to acting together in “The Gin Game,” they said a two-person show is difficult but this particular play has characters the audience will be able to relate to.

“It’s a very good play,” Shea said.

Owens agreed adding, “(The author) does a good job of keeping the interest in the characters going,” he said. “They’re such well-written characters.”

Shea said Weller and Fonsia are complex characters and as the play progresses the audience discovers they both have personal issues.

“It’s sad in a way neither one of them has visitors, so they are seeking company in each other,” she said.

“The gin game almost becomes a character in itself,” Owens added. “Weller is driven to win.”

The actors describe their characters “almost like a married couple” and believe the audience will be able to relate to the dialogue and modern themes the play presents.

“That’s the thing I want people to come and see is a really well-written play about two people who could be anybody you know,” Shea said.

“That’s what drew me to it in the first place was the fact that these are real people,” Owens said.

“The Gin Game” will run for two weekends from May 12-21 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, in the Olympic Theatre Arts Gathering Hall, 414 N. Sequim Ave. Beverage bar and concessions will be available.

Tickets are on sale at the theater box office or online at www.olympictheatrearts.org. For more information, contact the OTA box office from 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, at 683-7326.