Everyone's looking for answers in the Steinberg home, but in different places.

Arthur (Marcus Waterman), who lost all his co-workers and his job in the World Trade Center, is nearly catatonic. He's not looking so much as hiding, refusing to leave the house and beginning to smell.

Sylvia (Rhonda Brown) is frenetically engaged with her new evangelical church, certain that the return of Jesus is close at hand and hoping that will keep her family safe.

Their daughter, Rachel (Laura Jo Trexler), is a teenage goth who's trying to find something to eat in a house where everyone has been so traumatized that no one can care for anyone else.

Deb Laufer's new play, End Days, produced by Curious Theatre Company, is a well-crafted, involving piece of theater that addresses the desperation we feel when outside forces threaten to swamp us all. That she does it on a small canvas, with an oddball family and witty character drawings, makes her theme digestible.

Christopher Leo directs a spot-on cast with a natural balance between the more serious themes and its absurdist face. There's a boy smitten with Rachel, the strangest of geeks who wears the same shiny Elvis suit to school every day and repeatedly turns the other cheek to her brushoffs. Sean Mellott plays Nelson as a boy with a gentle heart and an openness that lead to endless bruises.

Nelson's also responsible for bringing Arthur back to life, through the simple act of coaching Nelson on his Torah portion (fittingly, the story of Noah). It actually makes a kind of poignant sense. This is one of the reasons people return to religion in times of crisis. The history and constancy provide a safe, familiar place. For Arthur, it's a project he can manage, and Waterman brings a depth of loss, followed by soulful affection, to the role.

Brown is saddled with the most difficult character. Raised Jewish and having been a secular adult, Sylvia has responded to Sept. 11 by joining a church and trying to convert strip-club patrons. She's humorless, rigid and a very hard character to love, but the playwright and the actress finally redeem her.

Sylvia has also developed a truly personal relationship with Jesus, who spends his days hanging around the house with her. David Russell brings huge laughs to the role, behaving as a deity might when stuck in a prosaic situation. Brown gazes at him as if they share a secret; meanwhile, Russell scratches his nose or shakes a sugar packet for coffee. When she says, "Thank you, Jesus," it's not just rote - he helped her carry some books.

Nick Kargel has designed a set that feels slapdash, a collection of realistic home furnishings backed by loose drapings of white fabric. If it's a metaphor, the meaning is unclear.

Trexler was seen at Curious this season in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, but here she really stands out. Despite her goth-girl mask of white pancake and blackened eyes, Trexler's face is transparent, revealing the emotions and thoughts of a girl with no guidance but her own.

End Days

* Grade: B+

* When and where: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays (through July 26), Curious Theatre Company, 1080 Acoma St.

* Cost: $22 to $25

* Information: 303-623-0524