This Week on Mystery Theatre:
There’s Something in the Basement

Who’s there?

Here’s the setup:

You’re in the basement of a theatre building. Alone. The rest of the company is next door, painting a set on the main stage while you hunt for something called a snow-patterned gobo.

The basement is a mess. No organization. Just a chaotic jumble of old props and flats … and pieces of furniture that the theatre company inherited when it took over the building in 1999.

And somewhere within that mass of stuff is a wardrobe with two massive doors, each decorated with  12-carved squares and 24 dragon heads.

The doors are locked. But there’s something inside. You can hear it.

It sounds like this:

Could it be a coded message? And if it is, what is it saying … who is transmitting it … and who is it for?

So begins the mystery of “The Ælf in the Wardrobe,” which drops today as Prime Stage Mystery Theatre presents the latest chapter of the interactive podcast where you are part of the story. Written and produced specially to coincide with Prime Stage’s live production of the fantasy classic The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (which previews March 3 and opens March 4), the mystery will continue through March, with new episodes dropping each Thursday.

It’s the podcast that mystery/fantasy writer Michael Libling (author of Hollywood North) calls “The golden age of radio reimagined,” and you can hear the latest installment by clicking the player below or (if you’ve missed any previous installments), by finding a complete catalog at Apple, Audible, Libsyn, Podbay, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And as always, if you have a response to the prompt at the end of today’s episode, or if you have a suggestion as to how the story might proceed in Act II, you can chime in by posting a comment below, reaching out via the social media buttons at the top of this page, or by leaving a message at PrimeStage.com. We’ll try to include some of the responses we receive in upcoming installments of the show or possibly in a special supplement like the one in our previous post.

So get out your magnifying glasses and notebooks, and prepare to take part in one of our trickiest mysteries yet.

Hit play. I’ll meet you in the basement.