The Bear Creek School presents “Silverthorne,” an original dramatic production written by Bear Creek senior Seth McBride.

“Silverthorne” is a tale of greed, corruption and murder in a small, fictional western town.

The play begins with a poker tournament as the setting for a series of events, which intertwine into a “whodunit” thriller. As the story unfolds a mysterious character, the Night Hawk, appears and plays the role of a self-appointed vigilante. A train wreck and the disappearance of a fortune in gold complicate the plot. Although McBride describes the play’s theme as straight-forward, “love is more important than money or power,” theater-goers would be wise to be on the lookout for multiple plot twists.

“Every investment is a gamble; this one just happens to involve a saloon, cards, and poker chips,” said the character Jack Whitworth in “Silverthorne.”

McBride wrote “Silverthorne” in the spring of his junior year while playing a leading role in another Bear Creek production, “ROCK Candy and Cinnamon ROLL,” written by Upper School drama director Dr. Ron Lynch.

McBride said he challenged himself.

“If Dr. Lynch can write a play, maybe I can do it too,” he said.

After encouragement from his friends and classmates and discussion with Lynch, McBride spent three weeks writing in order to finish the play before the end of the school year. The play was accepted for a spring 2016 production and McBride spent the summer working on revisions with Lynch.

McBride said he enjoyed the entire writing process, but he liked the initial brainstorming of the overall story arc and plot points the most. He describes himself as a “big picture guy.” McBride is planning to study screenwriting at Biola University next year.

McBride has acted in all eight theatrical productions during his high school career at Bear Creek. In the last four years, he played Gravedigger 2 in “Hamlet,” Perchik in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Petruchio in “The Taming of the Shrew,” Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice,” Ford in “The Scoundrel,” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Rock Candy in ROCK Candy and Cinnamon ROLL,” Benedict in “Much Ado About Nothing,” and he plays the villain, Mayor, in this production of “Silverthorne.”

This year McBride’s dual role is unusual as Lynch is directing him as the character Mayor, but also looking to him for revisions when necessary.

McBride said he’s really impressed with how well Lynch understands each character’s point of view and is also thrilled with the spot-on cast and how they have all nailed their roles. McBride hopes that the audience will be entertained as they follow the clues leading to the final scene when all is revealed.

In lieu of charging admission, donations will be accepted to support completion of Bear Creek’s new Performing Arts Center.

All performances are open to the public and will be at The Bear Creek School Cornerstone Theater (8905 208th Ave. N.E. in Redmond)

Performance Schedule

Thursday, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

May 21, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.