Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl


I don’t often read plays, but when I do they have to be recommended. This is the second play I’ve read in recent years that I enjoyed immensely. Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl talks about life, death, love and the decisions we make. Each decision we make leads us to the unknown.

Jean is in the wrong place at the right time. She picks up Gordon’s cell phone, he can’t answer it because he is dead. The events that occur because of this decision drives the story forward and the end will surprise you as well as make you think.

This is not a very long read, 99 pages, which took me about 40 minutes to read it on a crowded subway.

Below is a clever exchange in the book, it is toward the end. You have to love the thought process here.

GORDON
…When you die, you go straight to the person you most loved, right back to the very moment, the very place, you decided you loved them…

JEAN
…How about people who loved God best?

GORDON
…Don’t know, Never met’em. The go to a different Laundromat?

JEAN
Laundromat?


This play has been produced and has been playing around the U.S.A. I wonder if it translates as wonderfully.

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