Crooked
April 11-May 11, 2008 By Catherine Trieschmann
Directed by Liz Diamond
Fourteen-year-old Laney is an inspiring writer with an imagination as off-kilter as her awkward adolescence. When she befriends the earnest, but hapless born-again Maribel, Laney’s penchant for storytelling spirals out of control. The girls and Laney’s mother grapple with matters of faith, fantasy, and the flesh, and discover that divine and earthly love may not be so far apart.
“Funny, Smart and Engrossing. CROOKED is the work of a big accomplished writer’s voice. This terrifically acted production makes it a gem of a discovery.”–Caryn James, THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Smart and Sensitive. CROOKED is impeccably cast.”- Marilyn Stasio, VARIETY
“Catherine Trieschmann’s deft writing, Liz Diamond’s skillful direction and the nuanced performances of all three actresses give impassioned life to CROOKED.” – Jennifer Farrar, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Run, don’t walk, to CROOKED.” – Russell M. Kaplan, NYTheatre.com
Liz Diamond
(Director) Liz is a Resident Director of Yale Repertory Theatre, and serves as Chair of the Directing Department at the Yale School of Drama, where she has taught since 1992. At Yale Rep, her productions have included Marcus Gardley’s Dance of the Holy Ghosts, Richard Nelson’s translation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie; Sunil Kuruvilla’s Fighting Words and Rice Boy; Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy; Paul Schmidt’s translations of Moliere’s School for Wives, and Brecht’s St. Joan of the Stockyards; Suzan-Lori Parks’ The America Play; and Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World. A longtime collaborator of Parks, Liz also directed the world premieres of Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third at BACA Downtown, Betting on the Dust Commander at the Working Theater, and The America Play at the Public Theater in New York. National credits include Lisa Loomer’s Distracted, Octavio Solis’ Gibraltar and Kenneth Cavander’s new translation of Euripides’ The Trojan Women at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Racine’s Phedre at the American Repertory Theatre; and Of Mice and Men at Arena Stage. Liz is a winner of the OBIE Award and Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction, and has won fellowships and grants for her work from the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Asian Cultural Council and the SDC Foundations. She currently serves as Artistic Advisor to the Women’s Project.
Carmen M. Herlihy
(Maribel) New York credits include: The Piano Teacher (Vineyard Theatre), The Thugs (Soho Rep), columbinus (NYTW;Drama League Nomination for Ensemble), The House of Bernarda Alba (NAATCO), Misterioso 119 (Act French/Lark), Romeo and Juliet (RTW), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, HamletMachine, Ahraishak (Theater Mitu) London: Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Vagina Monologues. Regional: Hartford Stage, Berkshire Theater Festival, McCarter, RMT, Mark Taper Forum, NCT. TV and FILM: Cold Case (CBS), Six Degrees (ABC), 2007ABC Diversity Showcase; and the upcoming films, Tiny Dancer (Dir. Eva Husson), The Trouble with Cali (Dir. Paul Sorvino),Two Lovers (James Gray) and Burn After Reading (Dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen) Training: BFA NYU Tisch; ETW Amsterdam; The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Cristin Milioti
(Laney) Broadway: Coram Boy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Off-Bway: The Devil’s Disciple (Irish Rep),Other NYC Theater: History of Tears, TV/FILM: The Sopranos (recurring role), 3 LBS, various commercials.
Betsy Aidem
(Elise) Betsy Aidem received the 2007 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence. Most recently seen in Tender with 13th Night dir. Kevin O’Rourke; Mary Rose at the Vineyard Theater, dir. Tina Landau; Celebration and The Room and Sea of Tranquility at The Atlantic, dir. Neil Pepe; Stone Cold Dead Serious with Edge at Chashama, dir. Carolyn Cantor; Good Thing at The New Group, dir. Jo Bonney; The Butterfly Collection at Playwrights Horizons, dir. Bartlett Sher; The Triple Happiness at Second Stage, dir. John Michael Garces; Luminescence Dating at E.S.T., dir. Will Pomerantz; Sweet Bird of Youth at Williamstown, dir. David Jones;and The Sugar Syndrome at Williamstown, dir. Maria Mileaf. Selected TV and Film credits: Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order: Trial by Jury, The Jury, The West Wing, Sex and the City (Margaret), You Can Count on Me (dir. Kenneth Lonergan), Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants II, Sanaa Lathan, and Winter Passing (dir. Adam Rapp).
Jennifer Moeller
(Set Design) Recent designs include sets for The Boy Jumped Into the Sea (Yale School of Drama); costumes for Antony & Cleopatra, Tamburlaine and Richard III (The Shakespeare Theatre, dir. Michael Kahn); Dance of the Holy Ghosts (Yale Repertory Theatre, dir. Liz Diamond); Henry IV (Milwaukee Shakespeare). Jennifer is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
Ilona Somogyi
(Costume Design) Recent New York productions include: Jerry Springer: The Opera (Carnegie Hall,) Almost An Evening and Scarcity (Atlantic Theater,) The Piano Teacher (Vineyard Theater,) Emma (New York Musical Festival,) The American Pilot (MTC,) Hot n’ Throbbin’ (Signature Theater), Controversy at Vallalodid and Fucking A (Public Theater), Savannah Bay (MCC), God of Hell, Wit, Swimming with Watermelons, Unwrap Your Candy, Tabletop, Hard Times and Princess Wishes, Disney on Ice. Also, as Associate Costume Designer for Spamalot, The Crucible, Art and the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. Regional: Williamstown Theater Festival including The Autumn Garden, Sweet Bird of Youth, Top Girls and On the Razzle. Europe: Norwegian National Ballet and Saturday Night Fever in Holland. Ilona is a graduate of The Yale School of Drama and recent addition to its faculty.
S. Ryan Schmidt
(Lighting Design) S. Ryan Schmidt is a New York based lighting designer. She has been working professionally in and around the city since 1997. Her New York City credits include The Mystery Plays (Second Stage, Mcginn/Cazale), Port Authority Throwdown (The Working Theater), Critical Darling (The New Group), The Job (WPA), The Abudction Project (HERE), Suzuki (GermanTheater Abroad), and Chamber Dance Company. Regional Credits include Iron Kisses (The Geva Theater), Love for Three Oranges (The Playgrouond Theater), King Lear (Yale Reperatory Theater), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Rivals (Hudson Valleyy Shakespear). Most recently she designed the world premier of The Glass Heart for the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2004 she was awarded teh Connecticut Critics Circle Award for her work on The Mystery Plays at the Yale Reperatory Theater. She has an M.F.A in lighting design from Yale School of Drama, and a B.F.A in theater from New York University.
Jane Shaw
(Original Music & Sound Designer) Women’s Project: Wapato. New York credits include: Merchant of Venice (with F. Murray Abraham at TFANA), Constant Couple and The Mandrake (The Pearl), Return of the Prodigal (The Mint), Blind Mouth Singing (NAATCO); Killing the Boss (written by Catherine Filloux), Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare on the Sound), and Dracula (with Lorenzo Lamas at Premiere Stages). Regional: Capital Rep, Merrimack Rep, Yale Rep. Dance collaborations include: Big Dance Theater, Susan Marshall, Terry Creach. Current projects include Antony and Cleopatra (TFANA), Liberty City (NYTW), Open House (The Foundry Theater) and The Fifth Column by Hemingway at the Mint. Graduate: Yale School of Drama. Recipient: NEA/TCG Career Development Program, Meet the Composer.
Alaine Alldaffer
(Casting Director) Alaine Alldaffer is the Casting Director for Playwrights Horizons and The Huntington Theater in Boston. Currently in production at PWH is Deadman’s Cellphone with Mary Louise Parker. Theater credits include Grey Gardens (PWH) and Broadway, Walmartopia the musical, The Knights of Prosperity (ABC), ED (NBC). Currently in the works is She Loves Me for the Huntington and The Williamstown Theater Festival. She credits Lisa Donadio, her Associate and right arm.
Catherine Trieschmann
(Playwright) Her plays include The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock, Crooked, How the World Began, Hot Georgia Sunday and The Most Deserving. Her work has been produced Off-Broadway at Women’s Project Theater, the Bush Theatre (London), Out of Joint at the Arcola Theatre (London), South Coast Repertory, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Denver Theater Center, and Florida Stage, among others. She has received commissions from South Coast Repertory, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Denver Theatre Center. She is the recipient of the Weissberger Award, the Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award from the Inge Theatre Festival, and the Edgerton New Play Award. Her work is published by Samuel French in the U.S. and Methuen in the U.K. She also wrote the screenplay for the film Angel’s Crest, released by Magnolia Pictures. Originally from Athens, Georgia, she now lives in a small town in western Kansas.
