The dead man27s cell phone 戏剧critique

Name: Zizhuo HuaClass: THE111Professor：KrizerDate : 04/22/14Assignment : critique #2“Dead mans cell phone “is a play written by Sarah Ruhl who is the recipient of aMacArthur Fellowshipand thePEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awardfor a distinguished American playwright. It is directed by Jamil Jude ,showed at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis downtown near the university of Minnesota . Also the play has a strong designer team which includes the sound , actors costume ,lighting ,props and set. Theatre in the round is one of the oldest theater in the state , it has very special arena stage unlike others , with six sides around the stage and each side has no more than seven lines .This unique design makes audience sit around the stage and helps them feel closer to the actors .I went to see this show at the day before the spring break; maybe because of the spring break the audience did not fill up all the seats. When the play began there are about thirty percent of the seats that could not be filled. In addition , thanks to the unique stage I felt very close to the actors ,so that I could observe actors expression ,posture and their movement very clearly . However , it is a pity when actors performed with their back to me because at that time I could not see actors facial expression. “Dead mans cell phone” mainly talks about a woman whose name is Jane and she found a dead man in the caf , then she picked up his cell phone and tried to contact with this mans family ,mistress or co-workers . Even though she just knew a little about this dead man ,she still tried her best to comfort everyone in Gordons family . The play is full of comedy, romantic and mysterious aspect . Also the play not only consisted of the realistic part but also the theatrical part .When Gordon appeared to make a statement on the day he died, analyze why he died ,before he died what is hispsycholinguisticactivity ,which is a theatrical part. In addition ,after Jane fainting at the airport , she went to another planet which like heaven is also full of mystery .I think it depends on people since if people who believes in God may think it is real happed to Jane, In the contrary , people who do not have any religion would think it is a theatrical part in the play . In the play it mentions catholic many time thus I guess that author may believe in God and she is a catholic ,so in her view this part may be believable . Furthermore , I really think actors in the play all did very well .However , I want to focus on Jane because she is a significant character throughout the whole story line. Compared with the character in the book , the actor of Jane in the play looks much younger than thirty nine years old .For me, Jane is simple and nave in some ways because she helped Gordon just since she thought he is a totally good man .In the play , it is a little weird that a woman picked up a strangers phone and then continue to answer it for days after he dies , just because she doesnt want Gordon s family feel sad about Gordons death. She told many white lies to Gordons family , such as making up the lie to prove Gordon still loves his wife ,his mom and his mistress .However , in some ways she is very brave and kind because most people do not help a stranger without any reason and go to south Africa in order to offset the mistake that Gordon made, Jane helps others without thinking too much . Colleen Somerville Leeman who played Jane in the play portrayed the characteristic of Jane very precisely. For instance , when she wanted Gordon to answer his ringing phone, at first she showed her impatience through frowning .Then she walked to Gordon waved her hand and signed in sign language after assuming he is deaf. These facial expressions and gestures are smooth and believable . The actor who played Jane cooperated very well with the actor who played Dwight. Furthermore, there are many interactions between Jane and Dwight and in the stationery store when they sitting together Dwight touched and braided Jane s hair . I could see the love inside his eyes, and they kissed twice . I thought it could use the illusion distance but it is a real kiss .In addition ,when Jane said she has nothing to gave the stranger except a lamp which in the shape of a kidney . It made audience laugh and it is very fun to see Jane fight with the other woman in the airport . It seems every movement is in slow motion and every movement looks exaggerated. Jan Arford played Mrs. Gottieb who is Gordons mother .From her we could see one feature the actor should have is special skills ,actors should be versatile enough . She sang a song when she left the church ,it is bel canto and her voice amazed every one. To be honest ,comparing this play with Cyrano that I saw last time , I prefer to see “Dead mans cell phone ” because Cyrano is more formal both actors line and their intonation were not very easy for me to understand. However, this play is more close to our daily life had has more fun than Cyrano .I really enjoy its sound design and lighting design. At the beginning of the play ,in the restaurant I could hear the rain falling. when the phone rings we could see that the phone is not the fake one , it is a real one which makes the plot believable .So when Jane was in another planet and wanted to contact with Dwight ,she could not control her feeling because she was very afraid and the phone had no battery ,then Jane threw the phone to the floor violently which makes me afraid that phone was broken . For props ,I think the table is awesome , before assembled it could be the small table in the cafeteria but after assembling ,it could be a big family dinner table. The table has wheels which could help actors move it easily . Finally , with the development of our society ,technology changed humans life a lot in some ways it improves our life ,in some ways it harms our relationship .This