Over the past few months, EvCC's drama club has been hard at work preparing for "The Dinner Party," EvCC's new student directed play.

The play is a romantic comedy about three divorced couples who arrive at a dinner party in a small French restaurant with no explanation as to its purpose beyond the fact that it is hosted by their divorce attorney, the only thing all three couples have in common, who isn't even present. As the night wears on, they fight, reminisce, and discover more about the purpose of the mysterious encounter.

"I'd read it earlier in one of Beth Peterson's drama classes. I really liked it, and I thought that we had the perfect actors to perform it," explained student director Alex DeRoest. "It's about honesty in relationships and the seriousness of love, but it's told through comedy so it's really quite genius."

DeRoest, an EvCC student, is a long time member of the Drama club and frequent student of Beth Peterson of the theatre department. He's starred in two plays and contributed to writing and performing in sketches for both of the EvCC "Sketch Nights."

"The best thing so far is being able to see the whole play from a director's point of view, something I haven't been able to do in the past. Hopefully, I'll learn from that in the future," said DeRoest. "This is also the first play that I've been involved in at Everett that takes place in the modern day, not some sort of stylized past with older forms of theater. This is very modern, very contemporary, and very funny."

Dylan Olsen, a five-production drama club veteran, plays Albert, an insecure loner who has a habit for stalking his ex.

"He's a very awkward type of person," said Olsen, "he's kind of like me, but times 10."

Olsen noted that the dinner party is a big change from other plays he's starred in.

"It's a romantic comedy, but it's not a typical romantic comedy. The couples are divorcees, and that leads to a lot of awkward situations. It's basically the humor of the play," said Olson.

Coral Malean, another long time performer in EvCC productions, this being her fourth, plays Gabrielle, a mysterious woman who cryptically hints at a past that doesn't become clear until the very end. Like Olsen, Malean feels that this is a unique experience in comparison to past performances.

"This play is in a really intimate theatre, whereas before I was really used to doing everything big, and with an accent. So I just have to learn to tone things down."

Like some of the other cast members, Malean pointed out some noticeable differences that arose from working with a student director.

"It's a lot more easygoing. There is a lot more freedom to figure out what you want to do. It's a lot more relaxed."

The play will run March 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m., and at 2 p.m. on March 8.