RIVER FALLS – The University of Wisconsin-River Falls Music and Stage and Screen Arts Department invites the community to Sarah Ruhl’s poignant dark comedy, “Dead Man’s Cellphone” Nov. 12-16. Performances will be held in Syse Theatre, 108 Kleinpell Fine Arts, 420 E. Cascade Ave., River Falls. 

An incessantly ringing cell phone. A dead man at the table. And a stranger who decides to answer. “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is a wildly imaginative comedy about connection, memory, and the ways technology shapes how we grieve, love and live. 

“I hope the audience thinks about how technology shapes our relationships today and how it can bring us together but also tear us apart,” Student Director Michael Kerr, a senior education, stage and screen arts and marketing communications major from River Falls said. “It’s about finding balance.”   

Written by award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl, “Dead Man’s Cellphone” premiered in 2007 and won the Helen Hayes Award for Best Play.  

Performances are slated each night, Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 12-15 at 7:30 p.m., with a final performance on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available through the UWRF box office one hour before show time or online at uwrfmusasa.vbotickets.com/events.  

Cast 

Aspen Snyder, a first-year pre-vet major from Omro, plays Gordon.  

Emerson Fahey, a first-year double major in stage and screen arts and communications from Maple Grove, Minn., plays Hermia.  

Angela Siedschlag, a first-year double major in stage and screen arts and psychology from St. Paul, Minn., plays Mrs. Gottlieb. 

Kaci Wallin, a first-year agricultural education major from Glenville, Minn., plays The Other Women/The Stranger. 

Wren Manivanh, a first-year double major in neuroscience and biochemistry from Brookyln Park Minn., plays Dwight.  

Alana Forliti, a first-year double major in stage and screen arts and communications from White Bear Lake, Minn., plays Jean.

Submitted by UW-River Falls