THE CAST OF “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is (left to right) Eric Parmer as Gordon Yuka Kawai as The Other Woman, Chris Brennan as Dwight, Mia Josimovic as Jean and Sarah Hoeven as Mrs. Gottlieb (WCP photo).

By Thom deMartino
Orange County Tribune

“When people say ‘I love you’ on the phone… where does it go?

Now playing through Jan. 25 at the Westminster Community Playhouse is the unusual comedy “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” Written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Chloe King, the story is almost less about the titular dead man than the kindly (and compulsive people-pleaser) Jean (Mia Josimović).

Sitting across from him in a café, she only discovers his body when she’s disturbed by the incessant ringing of his cell phone.

She just can’t help herself – compelled to answer, just to stop the noise. But she soon finds herself trapped, inventing reasons why Gordon (Eric Parmer) can’t come to the phone.

And yet she decides to hold on to the device, and it’s not long before Jean finds herself following up on the dead man’s calls – first, meeting up with the woman who proves to be his mistress (Yuka Kawai); then even attending a memorial (and later, dinner) with Gordon’s mother Mrs. Gottlieb (Sarah Hoeven), his brother Dwight (Chris Brennan) and his wife Hermia (also Yuka Kawai.)

But while Jean has been dreaming up idealized versions of the dead man (“I…I think maybe I… loved him?” she muses to herself at the memorial), the reality is considerably more stark: the relationships between the family members were quite strained.

Gordon had broken off ties with his mother, had an arguably unhappy marriage, and a complex relationship with his brother.

However, Jean finds herself weaving a tapestry of well-intended lies to try and make the various players feel better about their relationships with Gordon… making him out to be less callous than perhaps he was.

And every now and again, inevitably, the phone begins to ring…

This definitely isn’t a typical comedy for the Westminster Community Playhouse. It’s less straightforward narrative than symbolic commentary on the relationships we have, both with the people around us and with our technology.

The fact that Jean – who we learn has never had a cell phone herself, previous to this point – finds herself essentially chained to this technological device that she cannot seem to let go, is a less than subtle metaphor for where we are as a culture, as we become increasingly entangled with our tech. (Let’s not get started on A.I.)

The sparse stage allows the players to make full use  of the space, coming into play as the cast change the scene: note the increasing instances of characters relating to each other in the half-light – a steely stare between mother-in-law and wife, or the hard, uncomfortable glare between brothers – as the moments become more abstract, an interpretive dance in the darkness.

It’s marvelous work by a number of the newest faces at the theater, including Josimović, Parmer, Brennan and Kawai, with WCP veteran Hoeven returning to bring the delightfully eccentric Mrs. Gottlieb to life.

Dwight has never been his mother’s favorite, and Brennan has a wonderful physicality in the way he carries that burden, beaten down as he tries to get Jean to relate to him and not the phone; Kawai’s turns as both the mistress and the wife are excellent as well (the other woman’s accent is beyond belief, and deliberately so.)

Strangely enough, the core of story revolves around the relationship between Jean and Gordon, even though they never met in life: even when the late husband isn’t in the scene, the audience feels his presence. (That being said, Parmer does an outstanding job in his role, but that’s all we’ll reveal here.)

Josimović takes the abstract, unusual moments for Jean in the play, and makes sense of them. Where the audience may wonder why she keeps the phone of a stranger and weaves these increasingly complicated white lies, it becomes understandable through the lens of Josimović’s offbeat portrayal.

A very different comedy that will leave you mulling it over long after the show has ended, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is a unique cerebral treat… even for those perennially smartphone-distracted of us.

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone”: Mia Josimović, Eric Parmer and Sarah Hoeven star in this unusual comedy about our relationships with technology, and each other. Playing through January 25 at the Westminster Community Playhouse, 7272 Maple St, Westminster. Ticketing information available online at http://www.wcpstage.com, or call (714) 893-8626.