Dead Man's Cell Phone
| Dead Man's Cell Phone | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Sarah Ruhl |
| Characters | Jean Gordon Mrs. Gottlieb Hermia Dwight The Other Woman/The Stranger |
| Date premiered | June 4, 2007 |
| Place premiered | Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company |
| Original language | English |
Dead Man's Cell Phone is a play by Sarah Ruhl. It explores the paradox of modern technology's ability to both unite and isolate people in the digital age.[1] The play was awarded a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play.[2]
Productions
The play premiered at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2007, running to July 1, 2007, and was directed by Rebecca Bayla Taichman. This world premiere production was nominated for 7 Helen Hayes Awards.[3][2]
The play premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on March 4, 2008, and closed on March 30, 2008.[4] It starred Mary Louise Parker (as "Jean") and Kathleen Chalfant (as "Mrs. Gottlieb") and was directed by Anne Bogart.[5][1]
The play had its UK premiere in June 2011 at The Arches (Glasgow).[6] The production was directed by Stasi Schaeffer.[7]
Plot
Jean takes the mobile phone of a stranger, Gordon Gottlieb, who she has seen in a cafe. She has taken the phone because it is ringing and the man does not answer it--he is dead. She goes on to answer his phone and talk to his relatives, including his mother, his estranged wife, a mysterious mistress, and a brother. Jean also finds out that Gordon was involved in the sale of a kidney.
Characters
- a dead man, Gordon
- a woman, Jean
- the Other Woman/also plays the stranger. Has an accent.
- Gordon’s widow, Hermia
- Gordon’s mother, Mrs. Gottlieb
- Gordon’s brother, Dwight
Critical response
Robert Hurwitt, in reviewing a production in 2009 in San Francisco, wrote: "After one of her better plays, you exit the theater to enter a Ruhl world of ordinary people living extraordinary lives and small coincidences opening into quirky metaphysical conundrums.... Ruhl's gifts of probing humor, vivid imagination and poignant humanity are as alive here as in the luminous 'Eurydice' that Berkeley Rep took to off-Broadway and 'In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)'."[8]
References
- ^ a b Isherwood, Charles. "A Nagging Call to Tidy Up an Unfinished Life". NYTimes. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ a b Jones, Kenneth. "DC Hayes Winners Include Dead Man's Cell Phone, Macbeth, Reefer Madness, Irwin, Kudisch". playbill.com. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Sarah's Ruhl's 'Dead Man's Cell Phone' Begins World Premiere at D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth" playbill.com, June 4, 2007
- ^ " Dead Man's Cell Phone Listing" Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed October 9, 2014
- ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Dead Mans Cell Phone Makes NYC Premiere Mary Louise Parker Answers Call". Playbill. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Cooper, Neil. "Dead Man's Cell Phone, The Arches, Glasgow". The Herald Scotland. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ " Dead Man's Cell Phone Listing" thearches.co.uk, accessed October 9, 2014
- ^ Hurwitt, Robert. "Theater review: 'Dead Man's Cell Phone'" sfgate.com, May 11, 2009