Dead Man's Cell Phone By Sarah Ruhl: Play Analysis
807 Words4 Pages
Ray Williams of the Psychology Today states “that a bystander [is] present in 65% of the violent victimizations” (Williams). Today, many bystanders witness crimes being committed and do not take action to help. However, the high-school play Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl involves a female adult character by the name of Jean that does not only witness the death of a stranger, but also goes out of her way to inform, as well as comfort, the family members of the dead stranger’s last dying words. The author conveys the nuisance of technology which gradually destroys the relationships of families and friends. The performers of Dead Man’s Cell Phone overall executed the play marvelously through their acting skills, ability to impress the audience,…show more content… Hailey Selters, the actor of Jean, does an outstanding performance not only in the first scene but the entire play overall. The character Jean required a wide variety of emotions which Selters was able to portray convincingly. Not only was Selters able to accomplish a convincing play, but the actor of Mrs. Gottlieb was able to as well. Mrs. Gottlieb, played by Adreinne Marin, articulated her voice quite loudly and clear for the audience to understand. Marin also executes emotions such as anger and calmness quite well during the play. However, the other characters showed somewhat of a believable performance. Gordon as well as Hermia did not quite convince the audience of their emotions. Although Nicky Castro’s character was not introduced until the ending of the play, his portrayal of Gordon failed to convince the audience of his character’s emotions. Gordon constantly remained passive throughout his performance. Also, Actor Nyomi Davis of Hermia could not display the emotions required for her character as well. Davis also poorly demonstrated convincing emotions. She remained passive throughout most of her scenes as well, which is understable due to not enough experience from either of actors. After all, Davis states that “ [it] is only [her] second play” which proves her lack of experience in acting. Although this may be true, the audience was clearly able to understand what the actors had to