Silver Spring Stage Presents DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE, Opening 1/13

Silver Spring Stage presents Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Jacy D'Aiutolo and produced by Pam Burks. How can a cell phone change your life? It can, as a woman discovers, when she answers the ringing phone of a dead man at the table next to her in a diner. Dead Man's Cell Phone will perform weekends January 13 to February 4.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors and students. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sundays on January 22 and January 29 at 2:00 PM. There will be talkback sessions after the January 29 Sunday performance. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

In 2006, the MacArthur Fellowship awarded Sarah Ruhl its genius prize as a "playwright creating vivid and adventurous theatrical works that poignantly juxtapose the mundane aspects of daily life with mythic themes of love and war." Ruhl can take an everyday item - the cell phone - and turn it into a transforming and hilarious experience of life, death and love. Dead Man's Cell Phone, which premiered at DC's Woolly Mammoth Theatre in 2007, explores the feeling of being disconnected in a world where a device links us instantly to any place and person, the need to drawn into the spotlight from our obscurity, and the mystery and romance of strangers when we barely reach out to them anymore. Ruhl said aboutDead Man's Cell Phone: "Cell phones, iPods, wireless computers will change people in ways we don't even understand. We're less connected to the present. No one is where they are. There's absolutely no reason to talk to a stranger anymore-you connect to people you already know. But how well do you know them? Because you never see them-you just talk to them." No matter how weighty the subject matter, Ruhl never gets too serious. Laughter is her oxygen. AndDead Man's Cell Phone will make audiences laugh, think and laugh again.

The director Jacy D'Aiutolo says about the show: "Two principal things appealed to me about this play. First, the question of how technology affects how people connect with one another in a modern world is intriguing. Second, I am a great admirer of Sarah Ruhl's plays - they are written with humor, warmth, insight, and thought. Dead Man's Cell Phone is no exception. It is funny, touching, thought-provoking and quite unlike most plays you will see."

While at a café, a man dies. But his cell phone will not stop ringing. The woman at the next table, Jean (Alyssa Sanders), picks up the cell phone and ends up stuck in the middle of all his troubles, meeting his widow Hermia (Erin Gallalee), his mother Mrs. Gottlieb (Sarah Holt), and his mistress (Ana Maria Mutchler). In the course of meeting all these people, she ends up falling in love with the dead man's brother, Dwight (Scott Sherven). The dead man himself, Gordon (Andy Greenleaf), eventually tells his last moments himself. Dead Man's Cell Phone is a play to pick up! 

The cast also features Lizzi Albert, Heather Dixon, Maya Davis and Amanda Shafer as dancers. The production team includes Pam Burks (Stage Manager), Ken Ambrose (Set Design), Jamie Coupar (Sound Design), Peter Caress (Light Design), Crystal Fergusson (Costume Design), Allison Otto (Choreographer) and Lena Winter (Fight Choreographer). 

Silver Spring Stage continues its 2011-2012 season with the thrilling mystery Hapgood (Feb. 24-Mar. 16), frothy delight Enchanted April (Apr. 13-May 5), shocking tragedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane (May 18-June 9), and compelling drama Stop Kiss (June 29-July 21).

Silver Spring Stage has provided quality, affordable theatre for over 40 years. We are an all-volunteer, non- profit organization and appreciate any contribution to enable us to offer excellent and entertaining productions. Thank you for your interest and support of Silver Spring Stage. All programs at Silver Spring Stage are made possible in part by grants from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Maryland State Arts Council.