EVERETT — Teacher Beth Peterson is proud of providing her community college students with the opportunity to debut a new play, work with a professional director and do it in a short time frame that only the pros would undertake.
To top it off, it’s the longtime Everett Community College theater instructor’s play.
“It’s great for my students to go through this entire process. It’s a taste of the real world,” Peterson said. “It’s also scary to use my work. This is the most difficult, most complex play I’ve ever written.”
The dark, suspenseful comedy “Evil Twin” premieres this weekend at Everett Community College.
Peterson, only in her 40s, has been a Northwest Playwrights Alliance member for years.
Earlier this month, the alliance hosted a reading of her play “Bully” at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
And Peterson’s sketch “Guido in Therapy” is being performed by a group of touring Western Washington University students.
Jeanne Leader, EvCC’s dean of arts and learning resources, praised Peterson for her talents as teacher, actor and playwright.
“She’s a great example of an artist who works diligently at her craft and contributes an impressive range of original work,” Leader said.
The thriller “Evil Twin” is directed by Los Angeles-based and New York University-trained actor Brett Rickaby, whose credits include the HBO series “True Blood” and the movie “A Million Ways to Die in the West.”
Rickaby, Peterson’s friend, also helped the playwright fine-tune the play, which is a post-modern take on the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the tale of twin brothers and a corporation that creates a monster.
“Much has been in the news of late regarding the corrupt actions of some of our corporations,” Rickaby said. “I have always been attracted to what lies at the heart of things, good or bad. So, when Beth and I started looking for something to collaborate on last year, I was immediately intrigued when I read ‘Evil Twin.’ To me, it speaks to the spilt nature in all entities. It warns of monstrous possibilities.”
Cast members — Dylan Malgazzini, Jenna Jordan, Jeremiah Hamilton, Josh Read, Caitlin Goldsberry, Josh Olson and Forrest Slechta — have worked tirelessly during the past month to tackle the complex story and its mature themes, Rickaby and Peterson said.
“The plays I write start with an idea, something I am feeling or a bit of dialogue,” Peterson said. “I have always been intrigued by the struggle between light and dark, like Frankenstein’s monster. I am concerned with the power that corporations wield in this country. I started writing and it just came out of me. The play really wrote itself.”
Peterson grew up the daughter of a dentist in the small eastern Oregon town of John Day. She knew as a child that she wanted to be an actor performing Peter Pan, an idea not encouraged by her folks.
“In school I did well in geometry because I liked being able to make the puzzle pieces fit,” Peterson said. “That’s what writing a play is like, too. I am a very direct and honest person. My story telling is truth telling.”
Peterson earned her master of fine arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin. Her early career took her around the country before she landed in Seattle.
Along with teaching at EvCC since 2000, Peterson is on the staff of Seattle Sketch Festival.
She has worked with Annex Theatre, Theatre Schmeatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre and the former Empty Space Theatre Co. Her work as a playwright has been showcased at the Seattle Fringe Festival and many other fringe and short-play festivals.
“It’s important to keep one’s craft fresh and sharp,” she said.
Rickaby hopes people will come out to encourage the college students involved in the production.
“It is a privilege and joy when a community nurtures the work of local artists,” he said. “Here is one such work, one such writer and a cast and crew worthy of support.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
If you go
“Evil Twin,” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26-28 and March 5-7, Room 120 Baker Hall, Everett Community College, 2000 Tower St., Everett. Violent and mature content makes the play unsuitable for children. Admission by donation.
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