DUDE! WA’S MY PHONE? Director: Dean van der Ventel. With Jeremeo le Cordeur. Woordfees 2023.
ESTELLE TERBLANCHE reviews
When Dean September wins a new iPhone on the TV, he is in seventh heaven. Dean is the pride of his home town Wellington, especially his Ouma. After another success, Dean is floating as he enters a new level of content creation on social media. But as his good friend She-Earl warns, there are many pitfalls to owning an trendy Apple device. As Dean’s social media presence skyrockets, it quickly goes to his head and he becomes the target of hackers and scammers. Plus Dean didn’t quite take She-Earl’s advice about two-factor verification and Find My Phone being the most important steps of getting a new phone, so he is the perfect victim!
Dude! Wa’s my phone? is the comedic second instalment of the Dean September one-man shows brought to us by Jeremeo le Cordeur (writer, producer and actor). It is clear that the character has become deeply ingrained for Le Cordeur, who performs with an ease and energy that is wonderful to watch. The strength of this play lies in the sharp comedic timing and self-effacing humour. It is Dean’s weaknesses (technology, doom scrolling and the inability to think around a pretty girl) that make him more human and empathetic. As he becomes deeper embroiled in his phone and online life, Dean makes terrible choices and ends up hurting those closest to him. This could easily cause the audience to disconnect from him, but his clear deep regret over his actions keeps us rooting for him until the very end.
Interesting use of technology
One of the most interesting aspects of the production is the use of technology. A big iPhone is hung from the ceiling. Images are projected onto it as calls, messages and alerts come in and video streams are also used to draw us into the world of Dean’s phone. This component has great potential, but is sadly also the part which leaves most room for improvement. Some of the tech issues may simply be due to the fast turnover rate of a festival, which does not allow the sound and lighting crew enough time to truly get used to the script. Some cues were a little off, appearing late or early or disappearing too quickly. But others seemed intentional choices. Convention like switching the screen on and off are quite inconsistent. And each time Dean himself calls or messages, the phone goes dead. I get the feeling that they wanted to keep the tech minimal to avoid distracting the audience. I believe that keeping the screen on throughout would make it part of the scenery and would make more sense. But there is definitely great potential.
Another aspect that is cleverly done is Dean’s interaction with other people through voice recordings. This makes sense and works very well during the voice notes or phone calls. Using voice overs during conversations with other in-person characters was not as strong a choice since there was no clear distinction between “in person” and “electronic” voices. I wondered if there was perhaps another way to approach those scenes that would differentiate it from the voices coming through the device? Personally I would have liked to know how Dean managed to rescue himself and his friends from the problems he created and found the ending a little bit unresolved. But others may prefer the open ending. Director Dean van der Ventel has a great grasp of Le Cordeur’s style and strengths, both as actor and writer. It is wonderful to see them grow from one play to the next.
Fun and funny hour of theatre
As a whole, this is a strong and refreshing play that does not shy away from creative out-of-the-box thinking. And the original soundtrack perfectly complements and drives the narrative. It is an undeniable fact that our society has become far too centred on technology and social media. Many of us end up linking our own identities to our social media to such an extent that we lose sight of what is happening in real life. This obsession with being seen is unbelievably unhealthy and Dude! Wa’s my phone? is a good reminder. The message came through clearly and as one audience member told me afterwards: “It made me want to throw away my phone!” It is truly a fun and funny hour of theatre.
What: Dude! Wa’s My Phone?
WS
