Lawrence C. Connolly

The 21st-Century Scop banner

scop (noun): Old English – bard, minstrel, storyteller

  • This Week on Mystery Theatre:
    The Language of Anglo-Saxon Ælves

    This week’s installment of Prime Stage Mystery Theatre includes a conversation about the Old English language with scholar and actor Patrick Conner. You can listen to an excerpt of our interview with Dr. Conner in Act IV of Mystery Theatre’s “The Ælf in the Wardrobe” by clicking here or using the media player at the…

  • This Week on Mystery Theatre:
    Knock-Code Charts & Ancient Alphabets

    Can the arrangement of carved squares on the front of a locked wardrobe provide a clue for decoding the tapping sounds coming from within? And what about the red-and-white dragon heads in the center of each square? Could they possibly indicate the language of the coded message? Those are just some of the questions you…

  • This Week on Mystery Theatre:
    A Challenge to the Listener

    It’s really a simple matter. I maintain that at this point […] you have all the facts in your possession essential to a clear solution of the mystery. The mystery writing team Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee (writing under the pseudonym Ellery Queen) used to include the above statement toward the end of their…

  • This Week on Mystery Theatre:
    Cracking the Code

    The irregular tapping came from the other side of the sheet-metal wall that separated Paul’s and Harold’s cell from the totally enclosed tank for desperados next door. Experimentally, Paul tapped on his side. “Twenty-three—eight-fifteen,” came the reply. Paul recognized the schoolboy’s code: one for A, two for B … twenty-three—eight-fifteen” was “Who?” That’s a rudimentary…

  • 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…

  • Investigating a Playhouse Ghost:
    What is the Sound of One Ghost Clapping?

    The story behind a real-life theatre mystery. This month’s five-act installment of Prime Stage Mystery Theatre picks up where our previous story left off, with mysterious sounds emanating from somewhere in a theatre building. But before diving into this new mystery, I had the chance to meet with writer and martial arts enthusiast Michael Brendan…