Dead Man’s Cell Phone ( Theater Review )

What happens when a cell phone keeps ringing in front of you, unanswered, its owner completely ignorant of its endless ringing? What would you do when you find out the cell phone’s owner is unconscious? Sarah Ruhl’s play “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” revolves around such a situation. The spotlight is on its main character, a young woman named Jean whose life changes after answering a call on a dead man’s cell phone. After which, she is taken on a series of random events which eventually reconnects her to her spiritual world, albeit in a very quirky manner.

As the audience were filing in the small but cozy Pentas 2, a lady in a blue dress wearing oversized glasses named Jean (played by Alexis Wong) sat hunched on a table, displaying the setting of a café or kopitiam. A phone nearby started ringing, its owner sitting motionless with his head buried in his arms on the table (Gordon, played by Alvin Looi). Irritated, the lady got up and asked the phone’s owner-a man dressed in a suit, to pick up his phone. However, there was no response from the owner. And so she proceeded to answer the phone herself which entails her getting involved with the people in Gordon’s life. This is further complicated when Gordon is found dead.

Wong effectively made Jean a very adorable character, and this is shown when Jean tried making up stories to comfort Gordon’s loved ones. Her adventure first started with meeting a mysterious woman who later turned out to be Gordon’s mistress (played by Anrie Too). This was then followed by a meeting with Gordon’s mother, Mrs Gottlieb (played by Payal Vashist). A particularly memorable scene was when the mother remarked that nowadays, almost everyone is wearing black, unlike in her era where black was mostly worn to mourn the death of someone close to them. Jean then met Gordon’s family, consisting of his wife ,now widow, Hermia (played by Sandee Chew) and brother Dwight (played by Amir Yunos) when she was invited for dinner by Mrs Gottlieb.

Being the last person to be with the deceased, Jean somehow got herself known as Gordon’s co-worker, which raised eyebrows among the family members as Gordon was working in a sinister business-selling body parts internationally. Of course, Ruhl’s use of quirks was shown when Jean gave odd, random objects such as salt and pepper shakers taken from the café, to Gordon’s wife and brother. These were supposedly Gordon’s last presents for his beloved, as Jean didn’t have the heart to make them think that he passed away without leaving them anything. Vashist was also spot-on in bringing everyone in hysterics through her typical, uptight mother-like behavior.

There are some themes apparent in this play, namely absence and presence. Ruhl conveys this through Gordon, as he may be absent, but his presence is still felt – he still lives on through his cell phone. Many people still call him, unaware that he was already dead. Thanks to Jean, who insisted on charging his phone, Mrs Gottlieb was in a bit of denial when she still calls his cell phone every day as if he was still alive. In a way, Jean presented the theme of love. Although she hardly knew Gordon, she still made up comforting stories to his family-stories full of his positive attributes. In the end, it was shown that all of them had moved on with their lives. This theme revolving around  moving on is an important message that Ruhl successfully presented throughout the play.

Funny, odd and at times ridiculous, this play presented by The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) was fresh and pleasingly different from most plays currently showing. Director Christopher Ling and his talented team managed to put up a rather memorable show, staying true to a Sarah Ruhl-written play.

BY SITI AZIEMAH