Cast Set for CROOKED CROSS American Premiere at Mint Theater

Mint Theater Company has revealed Samuel Adams, Liam Craig, Katie Firth, Lily Ganser, Jack Mastrianni, Gavin Michaels, Ben Millspaugh, Douglas Rees, and Jakob Winter would comprise the cast of the American Premiere of Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross. Mr. Bank will direct.   

The creative team will include Alexander Woodward (scenic design), Hunter Kaczorowski  (costume design), Christian DeAngelis (lighting design), Sean Hagerty (sound design), Chris Fields (prop design), Stephanie Klapper (casting director). and Amy  Stoller (dramaturgy).

The play, written by Carson and based on her 1934 novel Crooked Cross — the title refers to the Swastika — premiered in the U.K. at the Birmingham Rep in 1935 and was staged in London in 1937 but never seen again. The Times called the play “enthralling” while commending the young author’s “temperate wisdom… Through it all she never preaches, or loses touch, through hate or prejudice, with the human beings she represents.”  

This Off-Broadway engagement at Theatre Row will begin September 20th for a limited run through November 1st. Opening Night is set for Thursday October 9th. Tickets from $39 are on sale now.

Crooked Cross draws us into the story of the Klugers, a typical middle class Bavarian family, facing the economic and political upheaval of Germany between Christmas 1932 and June 1933. At its heart is a love story: Lexa Kluger is engaged to Moritz Weissmann, a Jewish doctor. Lexa’s brothers, Helmy and Erich, are becoming increasingly involved with the Nazi party, grateful to have “a real job with a little pay at least.” It’s the story of a single Bavarian family as the world begins to tilt around them. We see the rise of fascism — but also the yearning to belong that pulls these young men into the darkness. Carson offers a timeless story of how decent people can be led astray.  

“Maybe the best indication of just how remarkable Sally Carson was in 1934 is the title she gave her novel—and the play that followed: Crooked Cross — a pointed, unmistakably pejorative reference to the swastika flag of the Nazi Party. The first time those two words appeared together in The New York Times was in connection with this play. Carson didn't know what horrors were yet to come, but she did know that something was deeply wrong. But Crooked Cross is not a play about politics or war or genocide, it is a very human story grounded in understanding and wisdom,” said Mr. Bank.  

At a post-show talk in 1935, Carson spoke about the generation coming of age in Germany after the Great War: “The German youth had been brought up to believe that their country was ‘beaten’ and ‘second-class.’ They developed a feeling of inferiority… Then along came Hitler who said, ‘You are not second rate and you are not going to be.’ This creed inspired the young people… Whether he will continue to bamboozle the people much longer, no one knows.”