YPH’s ‘Cell Phone’ rings true

May 15, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Youngstown

Despite its supremely unprepossessing title and a borderline icky subplot about organ trafficking, Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is a surprisingly touching feel-good comedy about redemption and second chances. The splendidly acted Youngstown Playhouse production of Ruhl’s 2008 off-Broadway hit that opened Friday night proves you can’t judge a book — or in this case, a play — by the cover.

When Holocaust museum worker Jean (Brandy Johanntges) pries a cellphone from the hands of a dead guy (Eric Kibler as shady businessman Gordon Gottlieb) in a New York City caf , things go from curious to curiouser in seeming nanoseconds. That Lewis Carroll reference is intentional since “DMCP” has a definite “Alice in Wonderland” vibe as Jean stumbles and bumbles her way through the Looking Glass world of Gordon’s, uh, complicated former life.

Pretending to be a former work colleague, Jean quickly makes contact with Gordon’s dowager mother (Cyndi Plyler), brittle wife (Cheryl Games) scary mistress (Kim Akin) and doormat brother (Alan McCreary). Even though she never met Gordon and knows absolutely nothing about his former life, Jean makes it her mission to assure his survivors that he was thinking of them at the time of his demise.

Is Jean crazy, a busybody or just a goody two-shoes? Why does she become so personally invested in Gordon’s legacy? And why didn’t she just leave his cellphone behind after calling 911? Ruhl never answers most — well, all — of those questions. But that purposeful ambiguity is what gives the work such emotional resonance. Jean is a tabula rasa: you can project any number of motives (or emotions) onto her at any given moment.

Confidently directed by Susi Thompson in an auspicious helming debut (Thompson clearly loves actors, and she brings out the best in her eclectic, talented cast), “DMCP” bounces merrily along from one hallucinatory setpiece after another. The high point of the show — and the scene that brings everything into focus — is Gordon’s beyond-the-grave soliloquy at the beginning of Act 2. Whether extolling the virtues of lobster bisque at the expense of lentil soup (so plebeian!), Gordon is an endless font of wisdom and mirth, and arguably more fun to be around in his present condition than when he was alive. Kibler turns Ruhl’s artfully written monologue into a delicious tour-de-force that pretty much sets the tone (bemused, whimsical, oddly poignant) for the rest of the play.

Best known for her work in musical theater, Johanntges proves more than up to the task of headlining a quirky dramedy. Her naturalness — and natural warmth — as a performer prevents us from ever getting creeped out by Jean even when she’s behaving recklessly or erratically. Games is archly, richly amusing as Gordon’s aggrieved widow; Plyler earns some of the evening’s biggest laughs as Gordon’s Iron Lady mum; and an appealing McCreary does wonders with his slightly underwritten, Tommy Smothers-esque (“Mom always liked you best”) sibling.

Less successful is the unsatisfying ending, which too abruptly — and much too neatly — wraps things up. Ruhl has written that rare play you actually wish was longer, if only to spend a bit more time with her endearingly kooky characters. Theatergoers whose tastes run more toward Terrence McNally and Craig Lucas than standard-issue comic fare should definitely give this “Cell Phone” a ring.

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” runs through Saturday at the Youngstown Playhouse. For tickets, call 330-788-8739.