The surreal script can best be described as oddly bizarre. Dead Man’s Cellphone is a fantasy that explores human obsession with digital technology and the effects it has on our relationships. But it goes beyond the plot device to connect the protagonist to a dead man’s family. It examines how we sanctify the departed when we may have little or no information about them.
Those who enjoy abstract and experimental theater will the love Dead Man’s Cellphone. Others, while they may not like Ruhl’s play, should appreciate the exceptional work by the talented director, cast, and crew.
The St. Louis Theatre Circle has announced their nominations for their annual awards to be distributed on March 23, 2026, at the Loretto-Hilton Center. 172 theatre artists have been nominated in 34 categories honoring the best in St. Louis Theater in 2025.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis leads all companies with a record-breaking 38 nominations for their productions of Athena, Clyde’s, Emma, Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Brothers Size, and The Cottage. Emma is the most nominated comedy of the season with 11 nominations.
Nisi Sturgis’ Baskerville is a wacky whodunit. The madcap mystery is filled with riotous performances from a talented cast breaking boundaries with bold artistry. Alicia Revé and Sean C. Seifert are revelations. Their presence is more than scene stealing because their every moment on the stage is unforgettably funny. The entire acting troupe commits to absurd physical dynamism with athletic intensity to land every joke possible. Baskerville at New Jewish Theatre is a fun, fast, and frenzied good time.
The New Jewish Theatre will present Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig, running November 20–December 7, 2025, at the Wool Studio Theatre in St. Louis.
Tense, terse, and at times testy, The Minutes is almost two plays in one. While the first half gives off the vibe of a comedic tale of small-town bureaucracy, the second half is a darker and more cynical examination of the erosion of power structures.
After a brief hiatus for the Labor Day Weekend, the St. Louis Theater scene gets back into full swing with more than twenty shows opening between now and the end of the year. Broadway World critic James Lindhorst picks the six shows opening in September and early October that he thinks cannot be missed, including the local premieres of Sandy Rustin's The Cottage, Tracy Lett's The Minutes, and Anna Ziegler's the Wanderers.
Nick Freed is joining artistic forces with Kay Ailee Bush, Summer Baer, and Kayla Lindsay to create Glass Elevator’s first full season. Freed shared that there are richly gifted professionals in St. Louis who are eager to experiment and create cool new things. Glass Elevator will open its season in July with a new play development series called their “Ground Floor Series” that will feature a play that is 90-minutes or less. They will begin accepting script submissions in February from emerging St. Louis playwrights. Following their summer production, Glass Elevator will stage VAMPIRE DATING SHOW in the fall, a devised production that is based around a captivating vampire mistress in a macabre dating show parody set in a surreal gothic style studio.
The St. Louis Theatre Circle announced their 2024 Nominations on Friday. STAGES St. Louis’ production of CLUE and New Jewish Theatre’s production of INTO THE WOODS lead all productions with 11 nominations each. Twenty-four different companies and 55 unique productions were represented among 165 nominations in 33 categories. Awards will be handed out on Monday, March 25th, 2024, at The Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts on the Webster University campus.
MINDGAME is the current offering from Albion Theatre Company. Albion closes its inaugural season with another exceptional production directed by the company’s artistic director Robert Ashton. Once again, Ashton proves he has outstanding vision as a director and is a masterful storyteller. Production after production, he ensures his cast and crew are thoroughly prepared to present a polished product and MINDGAME is no exception. Ashton has well-rehearsed his trio of actors and they marvelously deliver on Horowitz’s script that is laden with psychobabble. His leadership has resulted in an incredibly satisfying production of Horowitz’s only full-length play with exceptional performances from his cast.
Glass Elevator’s inaugural production of a 60-minute play of caustic humor showed that this company has an artistic vision that needs to be explored further. The St. Louis arts community may have a budding theatre group to add to the robust and growing number of companies who produce plays and musicals of high quality.
Albion’s extraordinary production of Pinter’s work is grounded in Suki Peter’s sharp direction, brisk pacing and her collaboration with her actors. The performances she elicits from each of the cast members are balanced perfection. Her use of the space within Brad Slavik’s smartly appointed period set design conveys the confined intimacy one would feel in an overcrowded small rundown boarding house. Marjorie Williamson’s graphic & scenic design, Gwynneth Rausch’s props and Tracy Newcomb’s superb costume design all perfectly transport the audience back into the late 1950s.
The Factory Theater presents the continuation of last year's holiday special, Xmas War, with Xmas War: ENDGAME, December 13 - 21 at Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St. Factory Theater's holiday production is a double feature with the company performing last year's show and then continuing the story with this year's sequel. The production runs for two weekends only, Friday, Dec. 13 and 20 and Saturday, Dec. 14 and 21, at 8 p.m. Xmas War: ENDGAME is directed by Matt Engle and written by Scott OKen. Tickets are $15 each, and may be purchased through the Box Office by calling 866-811-4111 or by visiting TheFactoryTheater.com.
When 2014 came and went and The Plagiarist's Season Pass hadn't been 'dead-headed' enough to actually see every possible ending of their choose-your-own-adventure play it was sad. The cardboard and duct taped futuristic worlds, the Star Trek/Galaxy Quest-esque space suits that were just sexy enough to excite, but not scandalous enough to make one feel bad for the actors, and then there was the random malort-flavored snow-cones that for some reason were offered in between rides…2014 was a good year, if incomplete for only seeing a handful of Season Pass choices.
Eclipse Theatre Company, the only Midwest theatre company to feature one playwright in one season, will continue their 2019 Christopher Durang Season this summer with a production of Beyond Therapy, with Rachel Lambert directing.
AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to conclude its 2018-19 season with Rebecca Gilman's dramaTHE CROWD YOU'RE IN WITH, directed by Co-Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen*, playing May 16 - June 16, 2019 at The Raven Theatre (West Stage), 6157 N. Clark St. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.astonrep.com or by calling (773) 828-9129.
AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to conclude its 2018-19 season with Rebecca Gilman's drama THE CROWD YOU'RE IN WITH, directed by Co-Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen*, playing May 16 - June 16, 2019 at The Raven Theatre (West Stage), 6157 N. Clark St. in Chicago.
AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to announce casting for Rebecca Gilman's drama THE CROWD YOU'RE IN WITH, directed by Co-Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen*
The Factory Theater presents the second production of its 25th anniversary season, the world premiere of The Next Big Thing, playing at the Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St., March 9 April 21, 2018.
