Page 1 of The Silent Appeal

To: The Fairway Players mailing list

From: Kevin MacDonald

Date: January 2, 2025

Subject: Who done it?

Dear Fairway Players,

Happy New Year. May 2025 bring peace, joy, success, and most of all: drama. On that note, I am overjoyed to spend the peaceful afternoon of my fiftieth birthday sending this email about auditions for the next play, thanks to Sarah-Jane taking Sammy to Carol’s, and sparing me the drama our delightful three-year-old creates wherever she is.

The ancient Greeks may have considered the masks of comedy and tragedy to represent all that is theater, but the ancient Greeks can hold my beer. Because for our next play we will don a mask of mystery thanks to the queen of murder herself.

The Hollow by Agatha Christie was first performed in London on June 7, 1951, a frustrating seventy-four years ago, which means we just miss the three-quarter–century anniversary next year. The committee had a choice: perform on June 7 itself, a year short of seventy-five, or the anniversary year, but not June 7, which will fall on a Sunday when we can’t use the church hall. After a nine-hour debate we finally decided on the former.

The Hollow is set in a country house where a posh family are hosting a weekend for friends and relations. As a murder mystery, it “understands the assignment”—as Harley would say, if he was in, which he never is—because we see the victim shot dead onstage and still we don’t know which of the other guests “done it.” You know what they say about theater: make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, and make ’em mad they never saw the twist coming. I will direct and Sarah-Jane will produce.

What’s more, the committee have agreed to enter this production into the NADAs—National Amateur Drama Awards—for accolades such as best actor, best director, and best scenery, etc. A judge will attend one performance, so let’s hope that’s not the night the church hall ceiling decides to fall in (again) or the sewers overflow.

The cast comprises six female and four male characters, while two police officers may be played by either male, female, or gender-neutral actors. As we are keen for new members to join and keep our ever-dwindling numbers up, if you know anyone who might like to audition, ask, beg, plead, blackmail, or mislead them, do whatever it takes, but drag them to the church hall this Monday and let’s snare them in our trap.

Myself, Sarah-Jane, Joel, Celia, Mick, Marianne, and Denise will meet informally at the hall this evening to make plans for set-building, props, costumes, and makeup. We intend to observe the integrity of the original script and set the action in 1951.

Character breakdown to follow this weekend for those of you who want to audition. Otherwise, see you at 7:30 p.m. Monday night.

Kevin MacDonald, Committee cochair and director

To: Kevin MacDonald

From: Celia Halliday

Date: January 2, 2025

Subject: Re: Who done it?

You didn’t mention Natural Causes. The new director always introduces his or her next play with a nod of thanks to the last director and a short paragraph on how successful their play was. It’s tradition.

The two masks that represent the theatrical arts are symbols of far more than just comedy and tragedy, Kevin. They are the muses Thalia and Melpomene, who are called upon by actors at the start of a performance to help them shed their own identities for the duration. You can issue a correction in your next email.

How is it possible to “maintain the integrity of the script” yet also change the gender of two characters? Asking for a friend. Celia

Message exchange between Kevin and Sarah-Jane MacDonald on January 2, 2025:

4:19 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Natural Causes went down like an elephant holding a lead balloon on the Titanic. How can I write a glowing eulogy for that mess?

4:24 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

Ignore her. She wanted to stage a comedy about suicide and can live with the consequences.

4:26 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Should’ve renamed it Trigger Warning.

4:30 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:

We don’t dwell on the past, Kevin, we focus on the future and right now that’s hollow.