The end of the world has been a popular theme in the zeitgeist: just turn on the television to watch The Walking Dead on Sunday, Revolution on Monday, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Tuesday…all such frightening examples of the end times.

Guess what: the end of the world will come to the stage in Buffalo this Friday as Road Less Traveled Productions presents the world premiere of local playwright Jon Elston’s latest work—2012: End Of The Road.

The new play revolves around that little thorn in our side—the Mayan Calendar—and will star Bob Grabowski, Barry Williams, Sara Kow-Falcone, Christina Rausa, Kay Kerimian, Xavier Harris, David C. Mitchell and Monish Bhattacharya. Road Less Traveled Productions co-founder and executive director Scott Behrend will direct the production. 

The End Of The Road begins on the morning of Friday, Dec. 21,  introducing the audience to the eight people stuck at a Southern Tier rest stop during what appears, at first, to be a routine winter storm.

“These are the remaining employees and travelers who waited too long to clock out or move on, or just barely made it off the road in time, and now are stranded for the duration,” said Behrend. “They’re folks we recognize: the border patrolman, the unemployed flash mob organizer, and the weather-wary stockbroker who can’t believe his car’s snow tires suddenly can’t handle the rough roads.”

The weather starts to get scarier, and the group begins to acknowledge what Behred describes as “even more bizarre and sinister threats.” The eight strangers begin to realize the precariousness of their situation while battling the specters of desperation and madness.

“What initially looked like just another Buffalo winter gradually starts to look more like hell on Earth,” exclaimed Behrend.  “Everything terrible that can happen during a disaster movie seems to happen in this play. Superstorms? Check. Zombies? Check. Rivers of fire and blood? Hey, you never know.”

“End Of The Road was a great opportunity for us to have fun with our current cultural obsession with end of times anxiety,” author Jon Elston said. “In all likelihood, we’ll wake up on December 22nd of this year and life will go on as it always has, but, in the meanwhile, worrying about Armageddon has given us a healthy outlet for more realistic anxieties regarding politics and climate change and the economy.” 

“There’s humor, there’s suspense, there are surprises, there’s romance and numerology and jaguars,” Behrend promised, “There’s something for practically everyone!” 

2012: End Of The Road opens at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9, at the Road Less Traveled Theater (639 Main St., Buffalo) and runs through Sunday, Dec. 2. Showtimes are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available online at www.RoadLessTraveledProductions.org.