Having recently authored a novel about the Apocalypse as predicted in the last few pages of the Good Book, I can tell you quite a bit about what people in this area think about the End of the World:  almost nothing.  Even most churchgoing Christians view the Rapture as a vague, far-future possibility, somewhat like interstellar tourism.  But what if you knew the hour and the day Christ was due to return, leading hosts of angels to both airlift the faithful and smite the agnostic?  How would your behavior change?  How many of your friends and family members would be (dun, dun, DUN) left behind, and without them, would you still want to skip through the Pearly Gates?

That's the eschatological crisis faced by the Stein family in Deborah Zoe Laufer's 2008 comedy End Days, now being presented by Harlequin Productions in Olympia.  Sylvia, Arthur and Rachel Stein are New Yorkers recovering in various ways, and to widely varying degrees, from 9/11.  Rachel's schoolmate Nelson suffers from daunting challenges as Armageddon approaches:  He's infatuated with a girl who doesn't want him, he's compelled to dress like Fat Elvis, and most damning of all (pardon the expression), he isn't a Christian - though he's willing to play along if it makes the Steins happy.

Rachel, like many teenage girls when only their families are around, is satanically argumentative, and she dresses as if someone hoisted her by her feet and swung her around a Hot Topic.  She cultivates an imaginary friendship with English astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.  Celebrity worship runs in her family, though; her mother Sylvia talks to Jesus - who finds her a bit clingy.  The Messiah and Dr. Hawking are both played with impeccable timing and wheelchair virtuosity by Robert McConkey.

OK, so the script may as well be called Things Christian Carvajal Loves, but it takes more than ingenious writing to complete a winning show.  Always technically polished, Harlequin damn near stages Laser Floyd here, thanks in large part to video designer Jill Carter.  Darren Mills' costumes provide instant recognition of character type while facilitating 10-second changes for McConkey.  Sound designer Emma Gustason conveys us to the edge of the Apocalypse and back.

A play about the shared fates of time, space, and spirituality risks ponderous self-importance, but End Days is buoyed by credible comic performances under the capable direction of Linda Whitney.  Rian Wilson is a true find; he plays Nelson, an ongoing epicenter of schoolyard abuse, without devolving into a twitchily dysfunctional stereotype.  Scott C. Brown's accent never seems to hail from the same Northeastern state as Ann Flannigan's, but he's one of the most reliably talented underplayers in the South Sound.  Amy Hill gradually introduces a welcome core of warmth to Goth grrl Rachel, but even as her agro attitude dominates Act I, Flannigan's Sylvia emerges as the Steins' secret backbone in a performance that nails every laugh line while exploring each maternally reactive nuance.  It's a truly terrific piece of work.

Harlequin's End Days is one of the richest productions of any new play I've seen in a decade.

[Harlequin Productions-The State Theater, End Days, through Feb. 20, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $22-$33, rush tickets available half hour before curtain $12-$20, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.786.0151]