DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE  by Sarah Ruhl.

Directed by Kate Blackhurst. Canberra Rep Canberra Rep theatre/June 13-29.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone is a surreal and quietly funny American play that starts with the allure of the mobile and finishes as a quirky and somewhat other worldly romance. 

In a coffee shop Jean (Jess Waterhouse) answers the phone of the newly dead Gordon ( Bruce Hardie) rapidly becoming embroiled  with his forbiddingly strong mother Mrs Gottlieb (Elaine Noon)  and severe widow Hermia (Victoria Dixon). Then there’s Gordon’s mystery mistress (Alex McPherson)…what were Gordon’s last words…? And Gordon’s mild mannered brother Dwight, who works in stationery. 

It would not be useful to reveal much more. There are incisive performances all round with Waterhouse taking the lead as the ever positive Jean.  Noon’s Mrs Gottlieb is suitably on the sinister side, Dixon’s Hermia does a switch to a surprising passion toward the end and McPherson has presence as The Other Woman and A Stranger. And in the dual roles of Dwight and brother Gordon Hardie has energy and range, even as a corpse. 

Set changes on Cate Clelland’s suitably no fuss set use slides well and are brisk. Neville Pye’s sound and Stephen Still’s lighting are a positive support to the air of modernity. 

One could quibble about the title and mutter that Dead Man’s Mobile would sound better but it is an American piece after all. It’s one of those shows where you are better off surrendering to what it is and accepting that it has a certain magic, reminiscent of some of the more lighthearted (but always insightful) offerings of The New Yorker magazine. 

Alanna Maclean