Whodunit fans can test their detecting skills with season two of Prime Stage Theatre’s Mystery Theatre podcast series.
The first episode of “The Play’s the Thing,” written by Pittsburgh science fiction/mystery author Lawrence C. Connolly, will debut Thursday, with four more following on subsequent Thursdays.
“Lawrence Connolly’s Mystery Theatre podcast really sparks the imagination as ‘you’ try to solve each mystery,” said Wayne Brinda, producing artistic director of Prime Stage, based in the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh’s North Side.
With a format similar to old-time radio shows, Connolly’s work reunites the cast of eccentric characters featured in the previous season’s five-act podcast, “A Knavish Piece of Work.”
“I’m having a great time putting these shows together,” Connolly said. “In the first season, I worked with one of my favorite sub-genres — the locked-door-who-done-it. This time around, it’s a missing-person adventure set backstage during an opening night performance.”
Listeners will become part of the story. With an actor is missing, it’s up to them to follow the clues to find him and deliver him backstage before his all-important scene.
“Each 10-minute episode presents clues and complications as the listeners try to solve the mystery. With the interactive format, listeners can insert their own plot twists on the way to the eventual climax,” Prime Stage said.
“We’re hoping these stories appeal to both mystery fans and theatre lovers,” Connolly said. “Indeed, the mystery featured in season two incorporates a dilemma sometimes called ‘the actor’s nightmare,’ in which a performer steps on stage and suddenly can’t remember a single line of dialogue.
“Incorporating that nightmare into the mystery was one of the fun things about writing Episode 2, and I’m hoping it will encourage some of our listeners to respond by sharing real-life theater nightmares of their own,” he added.
“Larry is a wonderful storyteller and not with just his voice. The writing he has brought us has been a breath of fresh air,” said Tina Marie Cerny, Prime Stage operations director.” It’s wonderful to have something light and fun to listen to.”
Connolly began writing professionally in the early 1980s. His stories appeared in the magazines, “Amazing Stories” and “Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone,” and some were reprinted in volumes of “Year’s Best Horror Stories.”
In addition to writing and voicing “A Knavish Piece of Mystery,” Connolly also scored the background music and effects.
Access to the new podcast series is free. Donations will be accepted.
Details: primestage.com
