Dead Man's Cell Phone

Death forces the living to take stock, often finding us wanting, but in the hands of playwright Sarah Ruhl, who works space-time like Play-Doh, it is capable of giving new meaning and hope.

Jean (Sarah Agnew) tries to determine if Gordon (Jeffrey King) is alive. Photo: Jenny Graham

More remarkably, when death comes imperceptibly to the title character in the first few moments of the play, it sets off a series of surprisingly light-hearted comedic jousts.

Jean (Sarah Agnew) is finishing her lobster bisque and flossing her teeth in a generic café when she is distracted from her mundane revery by the ringing of another customer's cell phone. After getting no response when she asks him to either answer it or turn it off, Jean gets up and goes over to admonish him face-to-face, only to discover he's dead.

Jean (Sarah Agnew) and Dwight (Brent Hinkley) share popcorn and a touch. Photo: Jenny Graham

Using the Dead Man's Cell Phone as an Aladdin's Lamp, Ruhl takes Jean on a magic carpet ride to an alternative life that offers her a chance at fulfillment.

Agnew's quirky, uncomplicated approach hits all the right notes. Jeffrey King as Gordon (the dead man) and Brent Hinkley (his brother, Dwight) present a fun and telling contrast between the business-class, carnivorous set and the throwbacks to a hand-written, serendipitous and sensitive time.

Mrs. Gottlieb (Catherine E. Coulson) will mourn for her son until the day she dies. Photo: Jenny Graham

Ruhl's magical realism is ingeniously interpreted by director Christopher Liam Moore, who, along with his design team, provides a series of images (and a scene comprised of a ballet) somewhere between Magritte and Warhol. The ensemble is charming.

Ruhl's script, however, does need some work, indulging diversions that drag out the second act, which is saved by a cathartic last scene that feels like an about-face.

Oregon Shakespeare Festivals' Dead Man's Cell Phone runs through June 19th in the New Theatre. 541-482-4331 or or www.osfashland.org.

Bob Bows