In November of 2003, the family of Marc Machal gathered at his funeral to say goodbye.  Marc, a 32 year-old biker from Belgium, had been in a motorcycle accident, and the undertakers recommended a closed casket funeral because of the state of the body.  However, when Marc’s cell phone began ringing in his pocket and undertakers rushed to remove it from the coffin, the family became extremely upset and eventually sued the undertakers.

This story, used in the play at the top of Act 2, shows the disturbance a cell phone can cause.  However, that is not its only purpose. Like so many moments throughout this play, this story has another level to it that teaches us something about ourselves.  Why are we so disturbed by a cell phone ringing in a coffin?  Similarly, why is the entire premise of the play – a woman answering the phone of a dead man – somewhat ridiculous to us?  A cell phone is meant to be used for communication, and we can’t communicate with the dead by calling them on their cell phone.  Going even further, we as living human beings are meant to communicate, and when we are dead the communication appears to end.  This story about a cell phone ringing in a coffin is a funny story, obviously, but it also makes us ask ourselves some deeper questions about why and how we communicate and what that means for our relationships.

Both Cast and Audience: As you continue to learn more about these characters, ask yourself how and why they communicate.  Does Mrs. Gottlieb call her son because she misses him, or are there additional motives?  Does Jean answer phone calls because she is compassionate, lonely, curious, or a mixture of the three?  Or, perhaps, does she simply answer the calls because she feels obligated to keep his memory alive?  Is Dwight upset that Jean is taking phone calls because the calls distract her, or is he worried about who is calling?  In all these questions, as with the rest of the play, the cell phone is not the focus.  The human motives and universal truths in each character are the focus, and the cell phone simply draws our attention to them.

References:

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone Rings Inside Coffin.” Expatica News. 18 Nov. 2003. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.