Steadstyle Chicago
	April 2008 Theatre Review by Ruth Smerling
	Looking for a Ticket Broker? Check out the hottest broadway tickets from Gotickets.com Dead Man's Cell Phone Critical Evaluation: *** out of **** (Left) Coburn Goss and Polly Noonan in "Dead Man’s Cell Phone" at Steppenwolf Theatre.  Photos by Michael Brosilow. Playwright Sarah Ruhl, is often considered one of the most ambitious contemporary playwrights at work today.  We’ve enjoyed her works, "The Clean House" and most recently, "Passion Play: A Cycle" at the Goodman Theatre.  Each instill a wealth of questions on the meaning life that reach back to the recording beginning of humanity.  "Dead Man's Cell Phone," in the upstairs theatre at the Steppenwolf, is a little different.  This time the situation, directed by Jessica Thebus, is immediate, edgy and the characters have nowhere to turn for relief.  Polly Noonan, who had a nice quirky role in "Passion Play," is Jean.  Jean is a nice-looking young woman having a coffee in a local café.  It’s an ordinary day, as she sips and looks out the window at a beautiful array of passersby, that would make a Mary Zimmerman cry.  Suddenly a phone rings at the table next to her.  She sees a man out of the corner of her eye but says nothing.  But the phone keeps ringing, ringing, ringing.  Finally, very politely, in that precious little voice of Polly’s, she asks the gentleman (Marc Grapey) to please answer his phone.  He fails to respond.  He’s a little cold to the touch.  Why, he’s dead.  She takes the phone and soon finds that he has quite a past.  His name is Gordon.  He has a wife, Hermia (Mary Beth Fisher).  She’s also beautiful, elegant and likes to drink a little too much.  His mother, Mrs. Gottlieb (Molly Regan) doesn’t get along with Hermia.  She’s the unequivocal matriarch and rules the roost.  He also has a mistress (Sarah Charipar) and she takes an instant liking to his brother, Dwight (Coburn Goss).  For some reason she hangs on to his cell.  The family is pretty ordinary.  A little wacky, but pretty much like any other family.  She keeps answering the phone until a mysterious stranger unravels the whole story for her.  "Dead Man's Cell Phone", like most of Sarah Ruhl’s mired in speculation, riddles and assumed responsibilities, until a conclusion is reached and all pretense vanishes.  Polly Noonan is unforgettable as Jean, a young woman trying to do the right thing in an impossible situation and getting little help.  She’s forced to make a million difficult choices, each one a little bit right and little bit wrong simultaneously.  Marc Grapey comes to life at certain points to startle the audience with his take on who he is and what he stood for.  Mary Beth Fisher does a great job of offering a few clues, but only antagonizing Jean a little bit more. "Dead Man's Cell Phone" is funny, perplexing and beautiful, and borrows some properties from performance art, with a scenic design that is eerie and surreal.  Director Jessica Thebus moves the production along as gracefully and ominously as an Edwin Hopper painting, with a few lost souls grounded in dark space with little to grasp onto.  This production will run through July 27, 2008 at the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre located at 1650 N. Halsted.  Performances are Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m., Wednesday matinees at 2 p.m. (June 25th thru July 23rd).  There are no performances on May 3 and July 4.  Tickets range from $20-$68 and are available at the box office, by calling 312-335-1650 or online at www.steppenwolf.org.  Half price "rush" tickets subject to availability can be purchased one hour before each show.      About Ruth Smerling Ruth Smerling began work as an entertainment writer while attending the prestigious University of Illinois School of Communications.  She persuaded the school paper to assign her to review the film "Get Shorty," starring John Travolta.  Unfortunately her work was a little too brutal for the UIC paper and that was also her last assignment.  Nevertheless, the need to write and communicate could not be extinguished and fortunately her reviews received a warm welcome by the Editor-In-Chief of College News, Daphne Robinson who named her the Reel Goddess from 1993 to 2003.  Ruth covered film festivals all over the North America and interviewed countless movie stars, directors and authors.  Meeting the French Director Bertrand Tavernier at the Chicago Film Festival was the turning point in her movie reviewing experience.  He presented a brilliant film called "It All Starts Today".  He explained that she loved his films so much because American films are enjoyable, but must sell as much popcorn and Coca-Cola as they do tickets.  Since 2003 Ruth has been submitting controversial and thought provoking reviews to Theatreworld Internet Magazine and is pleased to report that people around the world send her e-mails inquiring about Chicago theatre, actors, directors and productions underway.  Ruth is delighted to be part of the Steadstyle website and looks forward to a long and happy association.      Dead Man's Cell Phone Review by Alan Bresloff Would the average person, sitting in a cafe answer another person's cell phone?  And if they did, what would or could happen from there?  Now take this a step further.  The woman in the cafe, Jean (Polly Noonan), almost 40 and sort of a "loner" is reading a book when she hears a cell phone ring and go unanswered.  She stares at the man at the next table as this ringing annoys her, but he doesn't answer.  After several of these ringing events, she gets up to confront the man only to find that he appears to be in a coma.  She answers and takes messages and then realizes that this man is dead.  She calls 911 and her life takes a complete U-Turn. She never lets go of the phone, answering every call and meeting the dead man's mistress, wife brother, wife and mother and in each case telling them things that will make them feel better about Gordon (the dead man's name).  This is a tour-de-force with some very comic moments, wonderful characters and a well scripted story by Sarah Ruhl.  Jean ends up spending time with the family and in fact dating his brother, drinking with his wife and getting involved in his business ventures (a truly wild business that you need to learn about from the play itself).  Each character has their own Gordon situations, but Jean makes them all feel better about their relationships (even though they are pure make believe) and along this journey she learns more about herself and comes back to a life worth living and finds love as well.  In fact every character finds some form of love and feels content from their relationship with Jean. Directed by Jessica Thebus and choreographed by Ann Boyd, this is a stunning production on a unique set by Scott Bradley.  A non musical being choreographed is rare indeed, but each scene change is in fact a work of art through great movement by the crew involved.  There are also some wonderful moments with glorious lighting by James F. Ingalls and a cast that is pure perfection.  Noonan plays Jean with just the right flair.  She is the lonely woman who has nothing but learns to care about others and bring them happiness, and along the way she too gets joy. Marc Grapey is a powerful Gordon who handles death quite well but later has two scenes that will wow you.  Molly Regan is strong as Gordon's mother.  Her funeral scene that also deals with cell phones is a hoot.  Coburn Goss plays younger brother Dwight with just the right feeling as the one that Mother didn't care about, Sarah Charipar plays the other woman and a business contact, and Mary Beth Fisher is adorable as Gordon's wife Hermia.  Ms. Fisher is always a delight to watch on any stage.  This is a very solid cast.  Note: there will be a change in June as Marilyn Doddy takes over the mother's role, but knowing her work, I am sure that this will have no effect on this production's quality.  This is a delightful show that will have you laughing, but also thinking about your own existence and as usual at Steppenwolf there are discussions after the play- stick around and get involved.  While at the theater check out a neat little cell phone display in the Upstairs lobby. You can dial up three new audio plays. It's fun!