It’s every actor’s worst nightmare: to be cut off mid-speech by the blare of a ringtone. But that’s all part of the plan for this semester’s Mainstage production. “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Elizabeth Mozer, races from profound to pedestrian and back again. This is Mozer’s first time directing at Binghamton University.

The story begins with Jean (Christina Catechis), protagonist and ingénue. She is sitting in a café when a cell phone goes off at a neighboring table. After unsuccessfully urging the phone’s owner (Jake Wentlent) to pick up, she answers it herself. She soon learns that her fellow patron’s name is Gordon and that he is dead. Things spiral out of control from there, as Jean tries to comfort Gordon’s loved ones. We meet his eccentric mother (Sarah Lees), wife Hermia (Arshia Panicker), mysterious business colleague (Jacobella Luongo) and adorkable brother Dwight (Rob Tendy).

One of the highlights of the show is the cell phone ballet, a five-minute sequence featuring phones, trench coats, umbrellas and a soundtrack of recorded conversation.

“The voices behind it are the ensemble, myself, my assistant director and my assistant choreographer,” Mozer said. “We don’t have speaking lines in the play, so our voices aren’t recognizable.”

Ensemble members worked with assistant choreographer Lindsay Harris to choreograph the scene. They drew inspiration from Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” and other contemporary songs.

“We have a move called the drunk penguin, and Tom [Planamento] has a move called the Beyon-Tom that looks like the ‘Single Ladies’ dance,” said Harris, a freshman majoring in human development.

The play is high tech in more than just its subject matter: movable scrims facilitate transitions as the settings range from a church to a stationary store to another universe (set designs are based on paintings by Edward Hopper and René Magritte). But with a tech-heavy set, a lot can go wrong.

“There’s always things that are unexpected happening. There’s bound to be error,” Mozer said. “I told the cast to be prepared. If a phone doesn’t ring, answer it anyway.”

Despite the serious subject matter, the cast has fun on and off stage.

“The stage management has been keeping a list of Elizabeth-isms, things I say,” Mozer said. “We laughed a lot during rehearsals.”

Mozer is eager to share the play with the University’s population.

“I’ve worked on it piece by piece like a mosaic or a pointillist painting,” she said. “I think it has a certain lightness, a humor that’s quirky and unusual.”

When you settle into your seat at Watters Theater, prepare to see romance, violence and the bizarre. But before the curtain rises, be sure to turn off your cell phone.

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” goes mobile at 8 p.m. on March 8, 9, 15 and 16 with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on March 17. All shows are in Watters Theater. Tickets can be purchased at the box office in the Anderson Center in person, by phone at (777) ARTS-2787 or online at www.binghamton.edu/anderson-center. Tickets are $14 for general admission, $12 for faculty/staff/seniors and $8 for students.