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Quirky comedy calls for laughter
(by Herb Hammer - November 03, 2010)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
Quirky comedy calls for laughter
Jean, a 40ish, timid, childlike, lost soul, sits quietly alone in a nearly empty cafe. The ring of a cell phone breaks the silence. She decides to answer it simply because the man at the next table will not. It's his phone that lies on his table, and he isn't moving.
Of course, he's dead.
Sarah Ruhl's quirky play "Dead Man's Cell Phone" is one of those silly comedies featuring a handful of dopey characters who fill up two hours with a series of one-liners intended to keep you laughing. Even the cell phone, which rings at brief intervals, is good for a laugh with nearly every ring.
Scott Miller's questionable directing brings the much-acclaimed Miss Ruhl's work to life at Dobama Theatre, where real laughs are spaced farther apart than one might like them to be. Miss Ruhl's award-winning "The Clean House" will surely lead theatergoers to expect more from this newer work.
"Dead Man's Cell Phone" does have a story to tell, a story that draws Jean into Gordon's, the poor young man who lost his life because the lobster bisque he hungered for was not available.
The play belongs to Jean, played here by Tracee Patterson, as a meek, lonely woman with a conversational tone of a fourth-grader.
Jean learns about Gordon's life soon after she asks him, "Aren't you going to get that?" Of course, the phone keeps ringing until she answers, "Hello," and, after realizing he's dead, replies, "No, he's not. Can I take a message?"
Jean learns all about Gordon with each phone call. She meets his mother, his wife, his brother and even his mistress, who all have a different take on poor Gordon's death.
Somewhere in the half-locked brain of the meek Jean is the need to tell everyone she meets that Gordon really loved them in one way or another.
Miss Ruhl has made sure all of her characters are a bit loony. Their reaction to everything about Gordon sends them in different directions. But that's in Act 1, where the playwright appears to be going on a much-awaited journey.
But Act 2 heads into the metaphysical and in so many directions that playwright and director become completely lost.
The play takes far too many leaps and twists as Jean, for a moment, meets Gordon in the hereafter, where he explains in detail the sick way in which he made a living.
Mr. Miller most often directs his play in a straight line, keeping his audience involved. But when the play goes haywire, so does he. It's almost as though he's trying to squeeze out more laughs, which only leave the play somewhat cold. He does some pretty good casting, though, saving the play and himself.
"Dead Man's Cell Phone" may not be all it might have been, but, as a minor comedy, it is worth a look.
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