However, her life took a very different turn as she had to trade the stage theatre for the hospital theatre when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She has now created a new show, The Tightrope Walker, written during her time as writer in residence at the Irish Hospice Foundation, which navigates a woman’s journey through illness and recovery.
The show’s development was funded by The Arts Council of Ireland, South Dublin County Council, the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Civic, Tallaght, and is being performed at Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre this week.
“The Tightrope Walker is about my diagnosis and recovery from breast cancer just over eight years ago,” Ms Macdonald said.
“It is set in an imagined hospital waiting room and different memories from that time are written on pieces of paper, they’re scattered across the stage, and they’re all numbered.
“People in the audience pick numbers out of a bowl. About half of the show is a set script and then half of the show changes each night, according to which numbers are called.
“To me, that really reflects the process of illness where there’s a certain randomness, mystery and sense of chance for good and for bad.
“There’s a lot of quite reductive, linear narratives about cancer which I think can oversimplify the experience.
“I really wanted to keep it broad, complex and also open enough. My hope is the audience relate to it in terms of any journeys of their own and any crises of their own.
“Ultimately, I hope it provides a sense of solace, a sense of inspiration and people really see their own strengths reflected whatever they’re going through, whatever their challenges have been.”
Ms Macdonald has always been involved in theatre. She was diagnosed when she was 42 and continued to write through her illness.
“At the time of diagnosis, I just came back from New York with a solo show. I was on a high; I had great reviews from being in the New York International Fringe,” she said.
“The next step was to tour the world and then six weeks later I was diagnosed. I couldn’t perform for a time, and that was frustrating.
“But I could write, and I found the hospital incredibly theatrical. I started trying to chronicle all the characters, costumes, the status games, the intense stories, the intense intimacy you end up having with complete strangers.
“It was such a source of comfort for me that it’s because I thought I could still be myself. I was a patient, it was a huge role, it took up an incredible amount of time and I felt quite reduced.
“I had a big life, out in the world doing things and then suddenly I was sitting in a waiting room for hours every day. People poked me a bit, did tests, and sent me away worried because I have to wait to get results.
“What made me feel myself was connection with loved ones, my friends, family and writing.
“As I got better, I thought maybe this work is just useful for me. But as I started to read it and share it with people, I realised there was a story there.”
Following her recovery, Jenny wrote her show and founded a company called Solo Sirens, based at the Civic in Tallaght, which strives to encourage women to tell their own stories, and use their own voices.
“I went back to the writings I had in hospital, and I thought it just a coping mechanism for me,” she said.
“I needed to connect myself to this vision. So, I took the work to the director and they said let’s make a piece based on these writings.
“I love the idea that theatre is often either a window or mirror, to see an experience you haven’t had or see yourself reflected. There’s that incredible comfort of knowing you’re part of a bigger picture and you’re not alone.
“Whatever human life you’ve lived, you’ve had a crisis, or probably several, we’ve all been there. Many people have been ill, so I think there’s this comfort of connecting with a story outside of your own experience.
“I’ve had people who’ve had breast cancer or other cancers or illness tell me they really want their friends and family to see it because they hope it’ll help people understand them better.
“I’ve had many healthcare workers come and see it now, and I hope it honours them and the work that they do, but also that they get to hear something from a patient.”
The Tightrope Walker will run from January 9-11 at Smock Alley Theatre, Boys School
