2010-11 Season

An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet café. A
stranger at the next table who has had enough. And a
dead man – with a lot of loose ends. So begins Dead
Man’s Cell Phone, a wildly imaginative comedy in which
a lonely woman finds herself the unwitting guardian of a
stranger’s memory. Literally traveling to hell and back,
this quirky and dark-edged love story crisscrosses life,
death, isolation, connection, what’s real, and what’s not.
Written by Sarah Ruhl, recipient of a MacArthur
Genius Grant and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Dead Man’s
Cell Phone is about the connections – real and virtual – that hold us together.

A long, long time ago, Leda makes love to a swan. 3,000
years later, Michelangelo paints a picture. 350 years later,
Rudolph impulsively buys it. 128 years later, Dave and Fiona
stand in a museum, gazing at what is left. Set in a world of
bizarre romantic obsessions and everyday ineptitude, 99 Ways
to Fuck a Swan explores the dark corners of desire and the
eternal mysteries of love. Most recently presented (and
adored) at Portland Center Stage’s 2009 JAW Festival,
Vertigo will present the world premiere of this hysterical,
weird, and epic production.

Mr. Zero is a hapless cog in the vast machine of
modern business. When he discovers that he is going
to be replaced by an adding machine, he snaps. Written
by Pulitzer Prize winning author Elmer Rice in 1923, The Adding Machine offers a searing look at advancing
technology and its effect on human relationships.
Largely considered the first American Expressionist
play, The Adding Machine takes on corporations, the
afterlife, and cosmic injustice. “A vigorous, full-bodied
take on an 85-year-old play that still challenges theater
artists and audiences.” – The Seattle Times