RLTP Premieres 2012: END OF THE ROAD, 12/21

It's the end of the world as Buffalo knows it this November as Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) presents the world premiere of 2012: End Of The Road by Jon Elston.

The new play, a "sci-fi/horror/thriller" revolving around the imminent end of the Mayan Calendar (on December 21st ), will open at the Road Less Traveled Theater (RLTT) on Friday, November 9th..."well over a month prior to the probable end of all life on Earth as we know it," assured RLTP Artistic Director Scott Behrend. The play will star RLTP Ensemble Members Bob Grabowski and Barry Williams, joined by actors Sara Kow-Falcone, Christina Rausa, Kay Kerimian, Xavier Harris, David C. Mitchell, and Monish Bhattacharya; Behrend will direct the production.

The End Of The Road storyline begins on the morning of December 21st and focuses on the last eight denizens of 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."

As the inclement weather grows ever more menacing, however, "even more bizarre and sinister threats," in Behrend's words, force these eight strangers to question just what exactly is really happening outside the doors of the rest area. Desperate strategies to escape the rest stop are undertaken, while madness slowly encroaches from within. "What initially looked like just another Buffalo winter gradually starts to look more like hell on Earth," exclaimed Behrend.

Behrend referred to the play as "a smorgasbord of thrills," adding that "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," said Behrend.

"End Of The Road was a great opportunity for us to have fun with our current cultural obsession with end of times anxiety," explained author Jon Elston. "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."

Elston added that, though the situations in the play are "terrifyingly real" for its characters, End Of The Road should be "a lot of fun" for the audience.  "There's humor, there's suspense, there are surprises, there's romance and numerology and jaguars." Behrend promised, "There's something for practically everyone!" 

Jon Elston is the Co-Founder and Literary Director of RLTP, as well as the Founder and Moderator of RLTP's Emanuel Fried New Play Workshop. Elston has been named Buffalo's "Best Playwright" and "Best Writer" in Artvoice "Best of Buffalo" polls and is an Artvoice Artie Award winner; his other plays include Triangles: The Elliptical, Interrogation Room, and American Deal.

2012: End Of The Road opens Friday, November 9th, at the RLTT, located in the Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre, and runs through Sunday, December 2nd. Showtimes are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available at www.RoadLessTraveledProductions.org.  

Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) is a professional, non-profit theatre company dedicated to the development and production of new theatrical works by Western New York playwrights and presentations of esteemed modern dramas of outstanding literary merit. RLTP, a member of the National New Play Network, operates the Road Less Traveled Theater, located inside the Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre, in Downtown Buffalo's Theatre District. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.RoadLessTraveledProductions.org or call (716) 629-3069. RLTP's work is made possible through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.