Hollywood, California – At what point does one realize they are all “grown up”? When is that proverbial thin line crossed from living on the wild side to being a sensible and contributing member to society? For some, that moment happens when they get their first job. Others switch worlds when they get married or have a child.

Then there are those who have a hard time tuning into a classic rock station, and instead of The Rolling Stones or The Beatles gracing the airwaves, it is tunes from the likes of Pearl Jam or Nirvana that blare from the speakers. Just like that, it hits them – something that was once hip, fresh and cool — a statement of one’s youth — is now a “classic” — a relic of a time that was today replaced by something that is even younger, hipper, fresher and cooler.

Max and Finn (played by Michael Weston and James Roday, respectively) are just rummaging through their thirty-something lives, heading into Atlantic City for yet another night of vice, debauchery and reckless abandon, just like the similarly filled weekends of a decade past. The only problem is about a full decade of their lives has passed, and it soon becomes evident that each man will come to a crossroads – how does one finish off their own personal journey before the time comes that he or she breathes his or her final breath in passing into extinction?

Such is the dark tale of Red Dog Squadron’s Extinction, which made its world premiere at Elephant Space on November 21st. Set in adjacent rooms in an Atlantic City hotel, Max and Finn start off their vacation weekend together with the usual bells and whistles of a guys’ night out in one of America’s greatest purveyors of sin along the northern New Jersey coast.

In attempting to answer the questions on the minds of all post-collegiate adults facing a quarter-life crisis of sorts, Wayne Kasserman directs this 80-minute dark play by delving deep into the male psyche at a unique stage of human development – that very moment when one realizes life is no longer a carte blanche youth will now, at best, reside just in mind but not in body.

When Max arrives in Atlantic City and seeks to continue his lifestyle of drugs, conquest, and womanizing with his old partner-in-crime, the pair of best buds are thrown for a loop when Finn struggles to make his wayward habits a thing of the past in light of his new-found love interest, only to fail miserably when he and his buddy are seduced by a pair of call girls.

Before they know it, Max and Finn begin to confront each other’s demons, attempting to come to grips with a youth forever escaping them. In the process, the duo go head-to-head, delivering blows to each other as if fighting in a heavyweight bout in Las Vegas for a cash purse worth tens of millions of dollars. The only question left to ask is whether either will be left standing to realize there is a whole new fight waiting for them on the other side of this thing we called life – a fight neither seems willingly ready to take on.

With well-quipped male humor and a steady dose of reality to remind both characters and the audience that living in the fast-lane does not come without serious consequences, Extinction is quite the commentary on the ever-changing mentality of dealing with the realities life tends to throw our respective ways.

Also starring Saving Silverman’s Amanda Detmer as a jaded casino worker attempting to make ends meet doubling as a prostitute, and Stephanie E. Frame as a nervous newbie hooker, Extinction was written by Gabe McKinley and is currently running at Elephant Space through December 13th.

Remaining shows are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m.; tickets are $18 for general admission and $15 for students with valid identification. For more information, visit the show’s website or call Elephant Space at (323) 960-7784.