‘Dead Man’s Cellphone’ at Reps

Written by award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl, produced by Patience Tawengwa and directed by American director Julie Wharton “Dead Man’s Cellphone” is a comedy about a woman, Jean, who is innocently seating in a café when a man’s cellphone rings.

It rings, and keeps on ringing. The man doesn’t answer because as the title suggests, he is dead. However, Jean eventually picks up the phone and when she discovers that its owner is dead, she quietly decides to keep the phone to keep him alive in a strange but significant way.

The story is about how mobile phones now affect our lives, our relationships, levels of socialisation and have in a way become a culture.
The play will feature Sandra Chidawanyika-Goliath, Charmaine Mujeri, Dalma Chiwereva and Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi, a young seasoned, but talented actor who has featured in many theatrical productions that include August Strindberg’s “The Father”.

In an interview on the production of “Dead Man’s Cellphone”, Wharton said the exercise was quite exciting both on the part of the cast and the production team. “The cast was very dedicated, fun, which is really important nothing worse than spending hours and hours with a group of people who have no sense of humour and deeply interested in the play.

She said it was a collaborative process with actors bringing important questions and suggestions so that the team could work together.
“They were extremely engaged and insightful about the characters, the relationship, the quirky humour, everything.

“One thing that I especially appreciate about this group of actors is that when I ask a question about character or a specific moment in the play, they don’t tell me what they think I want to hear.

“They always think and give a genuine, thoughtful response, something that has been quite useful in the production process,” she said.
A theatre director and educator with over 25 years’ experience, Julia has taught, performed, directed and managed theatre and dance in seven countries.

With a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Dance from Connecticut College, Julia feels passionately that performance art, and especially theatre is a powerful tool for leading, inspiring, building and nurturing individuals as well as communities.

Her varied and far reaching career began in Washington, DC, working at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, now known as the Shakespeare Theatre. She has taught acting, directing, teaching Shakespeare, improvisation and theatre history for many years.