Chicago Tribune: Comedy asks: What do you do with the unsaved?
Thanks to some very solid and honest acting under the direction of Shade Murray, you become quite involved in this funky little band of seekers, and invested in their eventual discovery that they need each other more than they think — regardless of any rapture that may await.

Edge Chicago: Review
...a lighthearted, fresh look into the ideas that make up evangelical religion, physics, the Rapture, and belief in general.

Laufer, herself a science-loving atheist, never lets these big topics overpower, and she achieves this by creating relatable, likeable and flawed characters who are all searching for some sort of meaning. Aren’t we all?

Pioneer Press: Preview - 'End Days,' examines faith, science and Elvis

Preview article

November 5, 2009
By Catey Sullivan Contributor

The premise is reminiscent of a bad joke: Jesus, Elvis and Stephen Hawking walk into a bar...

But while "End Days" -- opening this week at Evanston's Next Theatre -- is certainly funny, it's far too outlandishly original to fit into the parameters of a predictably gauche one-liner. A comedy wrought from a tragedy, "End Days" is a tale that shows the absurdities of pitting faith against science. In Deborah Zoe Laufer's quirky play, Jesus Christ and physicist Stephen Hawking have more in common than you might think. And if Elvis shows up to offer comfort in the face of unbearable loss, well, there's room for all three in this story of redemption and rebirth.

No joke

Despite its undeniable wackiness, "End Days" never makes religion (or science for that matter) the butt of the joke, says director Shade Murray and actor Joseph Wycoff.

"I really have a problem with theater where religion and faith are used as punchlines," says Wycoff, who plays Jesus and Stephen Hawking. "This is a very thoughtful piece -- it's an examination of faith and it attempts to give faith a fair shake."

"This is a comedy where different faiths collide within the same family," adds Murray. "It's a family comedy and a family-of-man comedy."

Response to tragedy

The play's family is the Steins, a wildly dysfunctional group sent into a destructive tailspin by the World Trade Center attacks. Arthur Stein is crippled by survivor's guilt: He made it out of the Towers on Sept. 11, but he's been a prisoner of depression -- unable to muster the energy to go back to work or even change out of his pajamas -- since. His wife Sylvia responded by forsaking Judaism and becoming an Evangelical Christian. Armed with Bibles and pamphlets, she spends her days spreading the "good news" and chatting with her own personal Jesus. The couple's high school-age daughter Rachel is an emo-goth misfit whose rage is never far from the surface. Finally, there's Nelson, the boy next door who copes with his own grief by refusing to wear anything but the sort of spangley jumpsuit favored by Vegas-era Elvis.

"It's easy to ridicule some of these characters," says Murray, "Everyone in this play has the opportunity to look foolish. But they also have the chance to look beautiful -- their faith activates them to very beautiful and selfless acts."
Some of those acts might seem less than rational. Sylvia, for example, organizes a slumber party/pray-a-thon on the eve of what she is certain will be the Rapture. If the family's together in the living room watching "Left Behind" movies when the Apocalypse comes galloping through, nobody she loves will get, well, left behind, Sylvia reasons.
Nelson, meanwhile, embarks on a crusade to get Arthur out of his pajamas, even if only long enough to go grocery shopping. Arthur returns the favor by coaching Nelson for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah -- nevermind the fact that Sylvia has convinced Nelson to accept Jesus as his one and only Savior. As for Rachel, once Nelson convinces her to read Hawking's seminal masterpiece "A Brief History of Time," she begins to see the legendary scientist -- literally see him -- as a comfort and a source of guidance.

Unexpected ties

Hawking and Jesus, science and religion -- they aren't complete contradictions in "End Days."

"The very religious, these are easy targets, easy to dismiss as irrational or stupid," Wycoff says, "But really, Christianity has never lacked for intellectual backing. This is the religion of Descartes."

"This is a play that's extremely thoughtful as well as being funny," he adds. "The mother does not give up her faith. The family does not embrace that faith. There is the acknowledgment that there will be conflict.

"Many people speaking from many different faiths have talked about the need for a spiritual guide; here, we have those guides as a literal presence," he said.

Chicago Critic: New twist on religious fever a humorous fable
Who said religion can’t be funny?... Without being ‘preachy’ or condescending, End Days unfolds as a funny look at the role of faith in human relations. This show is hilarious and healing.

SteadStyle: Review
Faith and Renewal! ... a wonderful theatrical experience.  This is indeed a story of faith, not just in the religious sense, but faith in humanity and in family.

Examiner: O Holy Stephen Hawking? Next Theatre talkback to delve sacred and scientific
A standing savior, a sitting scientist –Who wins the debate in the Stein's fractured household? Wycoff answers with a quote from the Dalai Lama’s book Kindness, Clarity and Insight: "Different medicines are prescribed for different diseases, and a medicine which is appropriate in one situation may not be appropriate in another."

End Days was awarded The American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg citation in March, 2008. It received its NYC premiere at Ensemble Studio Theatre in March, 2009 through an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant. It debuted in October, 2007 at Florida Stage, The Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis and Curious Theater in Denver through a National New Play Network rolling premiere and will have received nine productions by the end of the year. End Days is listed in the Burns Mantle Yearbook as one of the best regional plays of 2008, and is published in The Best Plays of 2008.

“Who knew The Rapture could be so funny?" – Theatremania

"…rapturously funny play about a family trying to survive in a world hurtling toward Armageddon, proves that the right playwright can inspire healing laughter in even the most sobering subjects."
-The Miami Herald

"A satirical dark comedy with a moral edge."
"The universality of the denouement brings this comedy full circle, leaving us to admire the relevancy of Laufer's humor and wisdom of her message." -Variety


“Enormously funny, warm and uplifting!” - CurtainUp

"… both poignantly redemptive and often hilariously funny."
"I hope others will have the opportunity to see this special play. It begs the question of what we would hold most sacred if we knew the end was near. And it brings to life our broad range of choices, including laughter, and the treasured traveling companions who are there even when we face our own personal Armageddon." -The Huffington Post