Metaphysical meets reality in the Valpo Theatre Department

Join the Valparaiso University Department of Theatre for Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” which explores the many questions evoked by our society’s intimate connection to technology.

The play opens Oct. 10, 2012, in the Studio Theatre at the Center for the Arts and runs through Oct. 14. Performances on Oct. 10, 11, 12 will be at 8 p.m. and Oct. 13 and 14 will be at 2 p.m.

“˜Dead Man’s Cell Phone’ explores how cell phones and rapidly advancing technology help us stay connected and simultaneously disconnected from our loved ones, obstructing real communication, and — perhaps — distracting us from life itself,” says director and professor of theatre Andy White.

The theatre department’s first performance this year is about a normal woman named Jean whose life turns very abnormal when she acquires the cell phone of a stranger in a restaurant. Metaphysical meets reality as she attends to the lives of those still affected by the phone Jean now possesses.

White reveals the significant questions the play seeks to ask its audience, “How do we make meaningful contact with our loved ones while they are living, and how do we remember them, perceive them, maintain some sort of connection to them once they have died?”

Sarah Ruhl uses her unique dark comedy to ask those questions and search for answers in a very non-realistic world.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for senior citizens and non-Valpo students. Admission is free for VU students, faculty, and staff with ID card. Visit valpo.edu/TheArts or call 219-464-5162 for more information and to purchase tickets. Contains mature subject matter, not appropriate for children.