When Elaine MacDonald sat down to write Unrehearsed Murder, she wasn’t just crafting a mystery; she was answering a call from her community.
“I have friends who are in theatre who knew that I was a writer. They said, ‘Elaine, you should write a play for Ladysmith Little Theatre.’”
So she did.
“I was told the Ladysmith Little Theatre is largely seniors, because seniors have the time for this sort of volunteer kind of stuff,” MacDonald said. “So I have eight senior characters and one young one.”
The result is Unrehearsed Murder, opening Sept. 18 at Ladysmith Little Theatre. Directed by Lyndon B and co-produced by MacDonald and Sharron MacLeod, the show runs through Oct. 5 and marks the world premiere of MacDonald’s first fully staged play.
The ensemble piece follows a volunteer theatre company rehearsing a last-ditch production in hopes of saving their struggling group. Tempers flare, secrets swirl and someone winds up dead.
MacDonald is a lover of the cozy mystery genre, where “the human relationships are far more important than the murder,” she said.
That’s what drives the play and all of MacDonald’s writing, which includes everything from novels, to opera librettos, poetry and nonfiction. She is fascinated with people and what makes them tick and loves to amuse her readers.
“I’ve always identified as a writer. Since I was seven,” she said. “I used to think that I wanted to be a famous writer. Now I want to write things people will enjoy. And it doesn’t matter if it’s two people or 300.”
Unrehearsed Murder is, at its heart, about volunteer organizations and the beautiful, frustrating and often hilarious dynamics that emerge when people come together with passion but without paycheques.
“Every volunteer organization goes through a period, more or less every seven years, of going into complete chaos,” said MacDonald. “It doesn't matter if it's a parents' group or a fish and game club or a horsemen's association or a theatre.”
Setting the play within a theatre group offered a self-aware, lighthearted way to explore those tensions. And it gave her a chance to write specifically for a group of mature actors, something she found deeply satisfying.
“Senior people are exactly like young people. But with more meat on the bones of their character,” she said. “There's more to discover about a senior person just because they've got a longer story.”
At 77, MacDonald knows a little something about long stories. After years of working, raising a family, and volunteering across many organizations — including chronicling the town’s beloved Festival of Lights in her book Light It Up! — she now has the time and confidence to pursue her creative passions fully.
She credits her evolution as a writer not to schooling — though she studied journalism and English literature — but to life experience and a commitment to personal growth.
“Becoming a person takes time,” she said of what she calls “the passionate pursuit of human potential.”
MacDonald is also assistant producing Unrehearsed Murder, her first time stepping into a production role. She’s enjoying learning new skills and looking at the play from a completely different angle. More than anything, the whole process has underscored something she already knew: the joy of shared creative purpose.
“There is a spark to people in theatre that you don’t find anywhere else,” she said. “Theatre is a collective art. And friendships come out of it that can last a lifetime.”
That deep, sustaining sense of friendship that is rooted in art threads through much of MacDonald’s life and writing. Years ago, she captured her ideal life in a poem. Decades later, she shared a recent version of that poem, an ode to her life now.
I live in a house on the hill
above the harbour,
With a cat and a keyboard,
A husband, a garden, grandchildren,
A few dear friends in theatre,
And time enough now
to amuse myself in my idle hours
writing novels and plays and
even the occasional little poem
Like this, to amuse you
Unrehearsed Murder runs Sept. 18 to Oct. 5 at Ladysmith Little Theatre. For tickets and showtimes, visit ladysmiththeatre.com or call the box office.
