Baylor Theatre's Production of "Dead Man's Cell Phone" Looks at Cellphone Obsession and Memorialization of the Dead

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Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (Feb. 7, 2014) - If you were to die today, what would you be remembered for? Nothing more than the contents of your cellphone?
Baylor Theatre's production of "Dead Man's Cell Phone," directed by Steven Pounders, associate professor of theater in the College of Arts & Sciences, poses this question and more.
The play, which received the Helen Hayes award for best new play, was written by Sarah Ruhl, lecturer in playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and in theater studies at Yale College. Though first performed in 2007, the play remains relevant to a society preoccupied with smartphones.
The opening scene is set in a cafe, where the cellphone of customer Gordon (Nashville junior Henry Greenberg) rings incessantly. Cafe patron Jean (Austin senior Jaime Lee) walks over to his table to turn it off and discovers that the man is dead.
From then on, the play follows Jean as she answers calls from his family, co-workers and mistress and even attends his funeral, fabricating a more positive persona for Gordon.
Other cast members include senior Michael Griffith of Tomball, Texas, senior Alexis German of Cypress, Texas, senior Molly Reed of Flower Mound, Texas, and senior Eliza Coleman of Houston.
Reed hopes the play will make audience members think about their lives. "What do they think about their relationships, their values and the 'what' and 'how' they communicate to the other people in their lives? Those are the questions raised," she told the Baylor Lariat.
"Dead Man's Cell Phone" runs from Feb. 11 to Feb. 16, though tickets are now only available for showings at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15. Tickets may be purchased for $18, or $15 with Baylor ID.
by Rachel Miller, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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