Dead Zone

Look around any given American road, and you’ll notice at least one quarter of the drivers chatting away on their cell phones. You might even spot a truck driver swerving across freeway lanes, text-messaging. Then there are the hands-free zombies, to be found in supermarkets and malls rambling into ear-mounted...

By Penn Bullock

February 26, 2009

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Look around any given American road, and you’ll notice at least one quarter of the drivers chatting away on their cell phones. You might even spot a truck driver swerving across freeway lanes, text-messaging. Then there are the hands-free zombies, to be found in supermarkets and malls rambling into ear-mounted headsets like air traffic controllers.

The cell phone is at the center of American culture — and it’s the subject of a new play at Mosaic Theater. Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone begins in a café, where a man’s mobile is ringing incessantly. A nearby woman, Jean, asks him politely to answer it. But, as Jean discovers, he couldn’t possibly do so because he’s not breathing. Irritated, she answers the call: “He can’t come to the phone right now, but can I take a message?” Thus begins a quest to unearth the dead man’s identity and contact his relatives, using only his cell phone as a sort of black box.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone runs February 26 through March 22 at the Mosaic Theater, located at 12200 W. Broward Blvd. in Plantation. Tickets cost $35 or less. Call 954-577-8243, or visit mosaictheatre.com.
Fridays-Sundays. Starts: Feb. 27. Continues through March 22, 2009

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