“The question is the sequence of events leading from the jewel-case at one end, to the stomach of a goose at the other.” Sherlock Holmes is speaking to Dr. Watson as they begin an investigation that might save an innocent man from prison.

Step back in time when the Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes’ Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” produced in the style of a radio broadcast, complete with live sound effects and commercials, just like the Sherlock Holmes’ radio series on NBC that premiered in 1930. Craig Wichman, founder and producer of the nationally acclaimed Quicksilver Radio Theater, adapted the script.

Tom Byrn portrays Holmes, and Fred Velde plays Dr. Watson. Byrn directed ELTC’s “Summerland” and “Silent Sky.” He’s performed with ELTC since 2009, most notably in two solo shows, “Will Rogers U.S.A.” and “Mr. Lincoln.”  He has acted at various theaters in the Philadelphia area, and at various theaters in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. Velde, who was in ELTC’s “Anna Christie,” “Rain,” and “Dulcy,” has appeared in over fifty shows in NYC, including the Off-Broadway revival of Mae West’s “Sex.”

Portraying several roles apiece are Veronique Hurley and Mat Labotka. In ELTC’s “The Rainmaker,” they portrayed Lizzie Curry and File. Hurley’s Off-Broadway credits include “The Tempest,” “As You Like It,” “Twelfth Night,” and “Hunting and Gathering” at The Glass Eye. Regionally, she’s performed at The Hartford Stage Company, Cape May Stage, and Playhouse on Park. New York credits for Labotka, an alum of Chicago’s Second City Conservatory, include Henry in “The King’s Face,” Albert in “Relativity of Love,” and Victor in “The Star and The Fire.”  He also performs in commercials, improv, and stand-up comedy.

Robert LeMaire, who played Teddy in ELTC’s “Arsenic and Old Lace” and served as the play’s assistant director, is once more operating the sound effects and taking on several roles. He’s been performing with ELTC since 2001, and recently directed the company’s Student Summer Workshop production.

Gayle Stahlhuth, now in her twenty-second year of serving as artistic director for ELTC, is portraying several roles and directed “The Blue Carbuncle.” Her performance 2019 as Martha Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” and her directing for the same production, were well-reviewed by Terry Teachout for “The Wall Street Journal.”

Before television and the Internet, people sat eagerly by the radio to hear the latest dramas, comedies, and news. Many radio shows were performed in front of live audiences at the same time they were sent across the “airways.”