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*** Try to imagine this scene. You’re in a small cafe, seated alone at a table enjoying a bowl of soup as you catch up on your office work. At the next table, another person appears to be doing the same. There is no one else in view, when the cell phone at the nest table rings. No one answers, so you get up to make sure the person has heard the phone. You find that the man has not answered his phone because he is dead! Yes, that’s right- he is DEAD!.

This is the premise of Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” ,now on stage at The Skokie Theatre in Skokie. In the past, I have seen versions of this play where they do it in one act with no intermission, but under Wayne Mell’s direction ( and knowing they have an older audience) they are doing it with one intermission making the run time with intermission, just short of two hours. The woman who finds herself taking over the cell phone is Jean ( Heidi Hansfield) and the dead man aka Gordon is played by Peter Goldsmith. Be aware, even though Gordan dies in the first scene, you will learn a great deal about this character as the story progresses and meet his entire family, his business associates and while it may seem hard to believe, him.

It turns out that Jean feels that Gordon’s phone was left to her so that she could carry out a mission. Her mission was to make all of the people in his life feel good about themselves and their relationship with this man. Even though she never met or spoke to the man prior to his death, she has the feeling hat her mission is to make everything perfect for those left behind and by doing so, she will feel better about herself.

The other cast members are Ann James as Gordon’s mother ( and  Mrs. Gotlieb), SarahAnn Sutter as Hermia and Gordon’s widow, Elise Blanchard as Carlotta and “the other woman”, and last but not least, Denis Vorobyev as Gordon’s brother, Dwight. Watch closely as you can see that a relationship develops between Dwight and Jean during the play. The flow of the story continues smoothly with the simple set ( Mell and Pat Henderson, who also did the lights) allowing us to stay with Jean and her frantic actions to guard the cell phone and those who continue to try to reach Gordon. Ruhl’s story is designed to grab the audience and keep them into the story and the characters, and most of all to give Jean, a loner, a new lease on life. In fact, one that she will appreciate forever.

Kudos to Claire Rockwell ( props), Wendy Kaplan ( costumes), Ethan Patterson (sound design) and Christa Retka (intimacy director) for making this production as solid as it was. The Skokie Theatre has a small stage, which helps preserve the intimacy of a production, but at the same time allows for very little space to accomplish the goals of the director. It is a challenge for large productions, for sure, but even an intimate productions such as “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” can be a challenge. This cast and crew met the challenge and exceeded my expectations.

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone ” will continue Thru – April 19th with performances as follows: