Sally Carson, an English writer who spent time in Germany during the early 1930s, composed Crooked Cross, a 1934 novel about a nice, middle-class, Christian family’s experiences as the Nazi regime rapidly assumes control of their country. Republished this year by Persephone Books and since acclaimed (Goodreads currently rates it at 4.38 stars), copies of Crooked Cross are available for sale in the lobby of Theatre Row, where a newly revised version of Carson’s 1935 stage adaptation of her story opened Thursday in its American premiere.
The Kluger family and their friends are celebrating a happy Christmas in their pretty Bavarian village as the play begins late in 1932. When the two-act drama concludes six months later, certain characters are dead, others have joined the flourishing Nazi party – enthusiastically or reluctantly – and a key figure tries to flee the nation, which seems strangely invigorated as it marches into a terrible future that only the audience knows.
Viewers likely will be able to draw some troubling parallels between then and now from the drama’s talk and action reflecting a democracy in social conflict. The disaffected sons of the household find purpose, meaning and employment amid the swiftly rising ultra-nationalist tide. Their feisty if naïve sister, engaged to a non-secular Jewish physician who identifies simply as a German, sees his career and their romance wrecked by growing waves of antisemitism. Their parents and others of the older generation simply try to keep their heads down, hoping such extremism will blow over, but finally they are swept into the Nazi maelstrom.
Under the smart artistic leadership of Jonathan Bank, the Mint Theater Company has rediscovered many worthy, neglected plays and their authors over the last 30 years. A conventional realistic drama of the period, Crooked Cross is a compelling work today due to its historic significance and as a cautionary study of everyday people whose world will change significantly for the worse before they scarcely realize it. In his program notes as the production’s director, Bank acknowledges he has made minor trims and amendments to Carson’s text to accommodate the Mint’s relatively modest resources. It is admirable how Bank and the Mint present such a remarkably prescient vintage drama at this time in American life.
That said, Bank is a mediocre director at best and the occasionally melodramatic Crooked Cross proves beyond his abilities. It is certainly beyond the experience of most of Bank’s actors, many of whom are young and making their Off Broadway debuts. Let me frankly note at several points the acting was so painfully bad that I had to look away from the stage. Scenic designer Alexander Woodward deploys a turntable to deliver several cramped, unattractive interiors; the visuals satisfy only when the action moves outdoors and Joey Moro’s projection of a looming mountainside appears.
Although the Mint’s production does not serve the play adequately, Crooked Cross remains a noteworthy work with a message likely to give some theatergoers shivers of recognition.
Crooked Cross opened October 9, 2025, at Theatre Row and runs through November 1. Tickets and information: minttheater.org
