Spotlight on ‘Nether’ actress Beth Yazvac
On stage now at Theatre Conspiracy is The Nether, a dark sci-fi crime thriller in which an internet investigator by the name of Morris seeks to shut down a virtual world called The Hideaway in which paying guests have sex with, murder and dismember the virtual children who live in a sylvan Victorian paradise. Beth Yasvac plays the role of the cop who is on this moral and ethical mission.
Playwright Jennifer Haley has crafted a number of complex, layered characters in The Nether, but none are more nuanced and conflicted than that of 
Detective Morris. Yasvac has several challenges in properly playing the role. First, she never leaves the cramped confines of the interrogation room located on an elevated platform center stage. In fact, she rarely leaves her seat at the interrogation table. Thus, Beth must find a way to emote in the course of her heated question and pitched verbal battles with the men she is interrogating through 
her tone, inflection, the tilt of her head and the motion of her hands and arms. But Yasvac channels her inner Kyra Sedgwick to give a Closer-like performance.
When the audience first meets Yasvac’s character, she comes across as cold and callous. But she is as conflicted as the man who conceived The Hideaway and the guests who visit that virtual 
domain to act out their deepest, darkest desires. The script calls for Yasvac to reveal her inner emotions and motivations layer by layer like a sous chef patiently peeling a Vidalia onion. Yazvac’s task is complicated by the fact that Morris is a caricature of an overzealous, power-crazed police detective who unabashedly acts as judge and jury. She is mean-spirited, devious and ruthless. Yet, 
there is more – much more – to her than that, but Yasvac cannot let us know too much, too soon without spoiling the ending. You’ll understand what she’s up against when you see the show.
A native of Philadelphia, Beth has now lived in Florida for the past 10 years. Her most recent acting credits include the role of Lexie in The Dixie Swim Club at Cultural Park, Doreen in Relatively Speaking at Theatre Conspiracy and Mae Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Lab Theater.
- Click here for Art Southwest Florida’s review of the play
- Jim Yarnes is masterful as Sims in Theatre Conspiracy production of ‘The Nether’
- ‘Nether’ actress Eren Sisk dishes on her character Iris
- Thomas Marsh plays uncompromised undercover cop in Jennifer Haley’s ‘The Nether’
- Actor Evis Mortley shares insights into his character in ‘The Nether’
- Click here for Director Rick Sebastian’s insights into the play.
- Click here for more on Director Rick Sebastian.
- Click here for more on playwright Jennifer Haley.
- Click here for a synopsis of the plot.
- Please click here for play dates, times and ticket information.
Published March 10, 2016.
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.