Bill Ryan/The Gazette Matt Baughman as Stephan Hawking and Caitlyn Joy as Rachel, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.

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Bill Ryan/The Gazette Caitlyn Joy as Rachel and Matt Lee as Nelson, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.
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Bill Ryan/The Gazette Matt Lee as Nelson and Brian Irons as Arthur, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.
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Bill Ryan/The Gazette Laura Stark as Sylvia, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.
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Bill Ryan/The Gazette Caitlyn Joy as Rachel, Laura Stark as Sylvia, Brian Irons as Arthur and Matt Baughman as Jesus, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.
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Bill Ryan/The Gazette Caitlyn Joy as Rachel, Laura Stark as Sylvia, Brian Irons as Arthur and Matt Baughman as Jesus, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.

Bill Ryan/The Gazette Matt Baughman as Stephan Hawking and Caitlyn Joy as Rachel, rehearsing for the Maryland Ensemble Theater production of "End Days", in Frederick on, Monday January 30, 2012.

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Whether wheelchair-bound or walking on water, mentors can come in many forms in Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s latest, “End Days.”

In the apocalyptic comedy about a family trying to find each other while preparing for the end of time, they turn to both Jesus Christ and Stephen Hawking for advice in their time of need.

“In a way they are both very knowledgeable about what is going on with the world and the earth,” says Matt Baughman, who has the unusual responsibility of portraying both on stage.

“End Days” tells the story of a family that has moved to the suburbs from New York City after the father, Arthur, narrowly survives the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that killed everyone else in his office.

Since the cataclysmic event that changed their lives, each member of the family finds his or her own way to suffer, whether becoming a shut-in like Arthur or developing a fanatical obsession with Jesus like his wife Sylvia. Daughter Rachel has taken to hiding beneath a pound of gothic makeup, and has begun seeking advice from Stephen Hawking after reading “A Brief History of Time.” Subsequently, Sylvia is convinced the world is going to end on Wednesday to be exact.

“Each character is trying to find what they want and they don’t have that much time to figure it all out,” says Baughman, 30, of Arlington, Va.

While Baughman, as Hawking, rolls onto stage and speaks in a robotic voice to the brooding teenage Rachel, he falls more into the background as a comforting presence for Sylvia.

“Ironically, I do the most speaking as Stephen Hawking,” Baughman says.

While Rachel and Sylvia turn to religion and science for answers, Arthur finds solace in a friendship with their young neighbor Nelson, played by Matt Lee. But Nelson doesn’t exactly have two feet on the ground, either, as he perpetually wears an Elvis jumpsuit.

“He’s probably not the mostly likely candidate for the job,” says Lee, 21, of Frederick.

Nelson’s parents are dead, and since his mother was a big fan of Elvis, the suit serves as a safety blanket for the high school student, Lee says. Although he has his own issues, the good-hearted teenager has a perspective the others do not.

“When he meets this family, all three of them are very hopeless, and their outlook on life is very bleak,” says Lee. “He almost awakens these three people who have ... been sleep-walking though life. He kind of breaks them out of this depressed haze.”

Nelson’s friendship with Arthur begins while seeking advice for his bar mitzvah, as his foster parents are encouraging his conversion to Judaism, one of the many references the play gives toward religious tolerance.

Caitlyn Joy portrays the jaded, angry Rachel, a character who has no one to turn to because her parents are equally lost, says the actress.

“She has lost faith where her mother is struggling to find it,” says Joy, 23, of Towson.

Rachel’s hallucinations about Stephen Hawking, just like her mother’s about Jesus, are the beginning of an awakening for the family who, while preparing for the end, realize that their lives have been apocalyptic for a while now.

“They’re all kind of dealing with it alone rather than struggling as a family,” Joy says.

While the characters in “End Days” are rather odd, they balance out the dark subject matter in a way that is relatable and funny for the audience, Joy says.

“They’d never cross into that realm where they are too bizarre,” Joy says. “They are very human. That’s where a lot of the comedy comes from.”

Rachel’s path out of her own darkness comes though a respect for others, and through finding something to believe in again, which Joy believes is part of the overall goal of the play.

“I feel like faith often comes with a negative connotation in a world where religion is associated with insanity, things we see on the news with picketing and signs and yelling at sinners in the street,” Joy says. “The idea of faith, no matter what it’s in I’d like an audience member to reassess what it means to them and see that you can find faith in anything.”

ccalamaio@gazette.net

‘END DAYS’

When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays through Feb. 26; 2 p.m. Feb. 12 and Feb. 19; 7 p.m. Feb. 26.

Where: Maryland Ensemble Theatre, 31 W. Patrick St., Frederick

Tickets: $24 for adults, $20 for students and seniors, $15 for Thursday and Sunday evenings

For information: 301-694-4744 or www.marylandensemble.org