Set during Winnipeg's economic boom, a murder mystery theatre play is going digital for its audience.

For Those in Peril on the Sea is the seventh in a series of radio mysteries written and directed by Tim Higgins. 

It is the seventh play in An Elleston Liddell Radio Mystery and it's put on by Interesting Theatre, based out of Young United Church.

"All of the plays take place in Winnipeg or environs in 1908. It's a nice historical look at Winnipeg as well as adventure stories," says Higgins who is the Playwright, the Director, as well as the main character, Elleston Liddell in this online special. 

The seven plays with Elleston Liddell as the main character have been worked on and performed over the past five years.

"I'm a history geek. Winnipeg's period between 1890 and 1914, this is when Winnipeg was the Chicago of the North. It was the fastest-growing city in North America."

Higgins says he modelled the main character in the play around Ralph Connor, who was a Presbyterian minister as well as one of the best-selling authors in the British Empire before WWI. 

"We've performed the plays at various churches around Winnipeg. One of my favourites was performed at Stone Angel Brewery."

Most of the plays were performed live, but this seventh one is available for viewers on YouTube for a period of time. The play is available on Young United’s YouTube channel.

"It was quite an exploration. We'd all been on Zoom but can you do live theatre on Zoom? We discovered that no, you can't. What I came up with shooting every scene individually and then record the live music separately. I take it to my suite and edit the whole thing."

Higgins has been helping put the church services from Young United Church online over the past year since the pandemic hit. 

"We haven't been able to meet in our church since March 15, 2020. I'm also in the choir so it's a real pain because we can't sing. We decided last fall it would be good to do something weekly."

The church is based in the West Broadway district of Winnipeg, and the play is an online fundraiser for the programs run out of Young United Church. 

"We are in a building called Crossways and Common which houses a daycare, West Broadway Community organization which does food and housing, West Broadway Community Ministry which has been feeding folks. It also has Wolesely Family Place and an adult education centre in the basement. This is meant as a fundraiser for the operations of that essential place. The work is necessary."

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