Telluride's SquidShow Theatre, "CON," a play about liars, opens 7/28

27 Jul Telluride's SquidShow Theatre, "CON," a play about liars, opens 7/28

[click “Play”, Susan talks with Sasha and Sarah]

Is there any doubt Telluride local Sasha Cucciniello enjoys an occasional walk on on the wild side?

In December, the company she founded, SquidShow Theatre, produced a play that conjured Telluride’s wild and wooly past, at the turn of the 20th century when men were miners and women were, well, let’s just say they liked to flaunt it. Squid’s “Burlesque” was a smash hit, playing to a sold out houses at the historic Sheridan Opera House in December. (Yes, Sasha plans an encore performance this year.)

With “CON,” the Squid’s upcoming production, Sasha gets naked again – but in a different way. In “CON,” a play about liars, Sasha bares her soul: the play was inspired by her father, an infamous grifter. Performances begin Thursday, July 28, and run through Monday, August 1, 8:30 p.m. at The Nugget Theatre (once upon a time a vaudeville house).

“CON” was originally conceived by Sasha and her long time collaborator, New York City-based playwright, Sarah Gancher. Six years ago the two wrote the first draft of a play about Sasha’s shady parent. After she moved to Telluride, the work got temporarily shelved.

Fast forward to now and Sasha along with her Squid collaborators decided to take themes from that play to create a new production. She tapped Sarah once again, asking her to come to Telluride to write the new and improved version of “CON” which has been created from scratch through the rehearsal process under the leadership of director Jen Wineman and designer Melissa Trn.

The “Chameleon”

“CON” stars Sasha, Dahlia Mertens, Thomas Shane and Colin Sullivan playing all sorts of smarmy types who intentionally misled others, primarily for personal gain. Some of these perps have become household names: Joseph “The Yellow Kid” Weill and The Chameleon are two of the Top Ten on the Wall of Shame.

Meet them and others, including Sasha’s father, in “CON,” when the Squids take you behind the scenes of sting operators.

Want to know more?

Click the “play” button and listen to my interview with Sasha, Sarah and Jen