‘Crooked Cross’ Rehearsed Reading at the Ustinov Studio

Join us for a rehearsed reading of Crooked Cross by Sally Carson at the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath. Written in 1935, based on the novel of the same title, the play tracks a young woman's political and emotional awakening in Nazi Germany in devastating detail. This will be the first revival since it was staged to critical acclaim at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and then, in 1937, in the West End. It will be directed by George Turvey, artistic director of Papatango, with a fully professional cast. 

The 1937 West End production was hailed by the theatre critic of the New York Times as the “tragedy of a Bavarian girl’s love for a Jewish doctor in the early days of the Nazi revolution” that captivated “without indulging in propaganda and without bias”.  The Times also praised Carson’s approach: “The real strength of the play lies in the nature of its criticism of its subject… Through it all [Carson] never preaches, or loses touch, through hate or prejudice, with the human beings she represents... She has a point of view, but she is an artist, not a tub-thumper, with the consequence that all her people live and her truth is spoken in their nature and their suffering.”

N.B. Seats for the rehearsed reading will not be allocated in advance. The performance is estimated to last for about 2 hours including an interval, but this information will be updated nearer the time. Copies of the novel will be for sale afterwards.

Picture Caption

Photograph of the lead actress in the West End transfer of Crooked Cross from The Bystander, January 27th 1937.