Dead Man’s Cell Phone

Circa Theatre presents Dead Man’s Cell Phone, a captivating romantic comedy by Sarah Ruhl, playing 10th April – 8th May 2010.

Directed by Susan Wilson.

The latest new play from American playwrighting sensation, Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House), this delightfully quirky comedy follows the adventures of one woman’s accidental quest to make a few people feel just a little bit better about themselves.

An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet cafe.
A stranger at the next table who has had enough.
And a dead man – with a lot of loose ends….

So begins Dead Man’s Cell Phone – a highly imaginative voyage of discovery with wonderfully surprising and theatrical twists.

Jean is sleepwalking through her life until she answers that ringing cell phone. It turns out to be a wake-up call that sends her on a date with the dead man's brother, a drinking binge with his wife, and a mysterious rendezvous with his mistress. Not to mention trips to the afterlife and the black market. In this beguiling modern adventure, Jean re-connects to her own spirit and learns that life is for the living.

The New Zealand première of Dead Man’s Cell Phone opens in Circa One on Saturday 10th April at 8pm.

Tickets are available from Circa Theatre, 1 Taranaki Street, Wellington. Phone: 04 801 7992.

Sarah Ruhl is one of the hottest and most acclaimed young writers working in the theatre today. She has received numerous honours. The Clean House, won the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Award, given to outstanding female playwrights, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

In 2006, she was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (nicknamed the “genius grant”), a $500,000 award given to individuals who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.” Celebrated for its distinctive aura of magic and whimsy, its transformation of space, time, and atmosphere, her work has been hailed by Charles Isherwood of the New York Times as “devastatingly lovely—and just plain devastating.”

Starring: Donna Akersten, Christopher Brougham, Mel Dodge, Rachel More, Jessica Robinson, Gavin Rutherford.

“It’s a joyride! Ruhl is an extraordinary writer and her brilliance rings through Dead Man’s Cell Phone” - San Francisco Chronicle

“Endearingly original – deftly blends absurd comedy and magical realism in this funny, affecting and often otherworldly exploration of modern life.” – SF Exam

“Full of astonishments, surprises and mysteries” – John Lahr, New Yorker

Event listed by Bridget Kidd

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