The Turn of the Screw

A deliciously creepy evening unfurled on the night I saw the Southwick Player’s production of The Turn of the Screw. 

This Victorian literary classic by Henry James is a ghost story, which has been adapted for the stage by Ken Whitmore. The plot is about two orphaned children left in the care of children’s governess Miss Grey in a remote house with a housekeeper and other servants. The previous governess died in mysterious circumstances as did a male employee. The children welcome her and seem delightful but when Miss Grey starts to see the ghosts of the former governess and manservant she believes they are corrupting the children.

The other worldly atmosphere of dark imaginings was skilfully set from the outset with the drifting of two nightgown clad girls, through the audience, and there was a ratcheting up of tension as the play progressed. The speedy acceleration of pace at some points contrasted with a slower domesticity at others, generating the sense of sinister suspense.

The set design was subtle and hugely effective as the setting for this ghostly tale. It was black with a French window at the back, couch and a side bureau.  Stairs led off to ‘bedrooms and a tower’ and a high shelf had ornaments including a cross and raven. There was a strip of four lights which flickered and went out one by one at appropriate dramatic intervals through the play and an exquisite candlelit scene.

Costumes such as Miss Grey’s black and beige gown with lace trimmings, Mrs Grose’s red gown, the children’s formal attire and the servant’s outfits were perfect. The ghosts were also dressed in Victorian outfits and this was far more menacing than any floaty ghostly garments.

Keziah Israel gave a stunning performance as the young governess, proud of her new position, her competence gradually unravelling into intense nerviness. She was perfectly matched by an equally brilliant performance by Kate Stoner as the practical, sturdy, yet superstitious Mrs Grose becoming increasingly uncertain and confused about the possibility of ghosts and the sanity of the governess. The interplay between these two, as doubt and fear stretched between them intensified the sense of apprehension. Nina Hayward played the perfect innocent Flora with unaccountably distant moods, while Bertie Atkinson as Miles achieved an accomplished balancing act of winsome charm that periodically slipped to reveal something questioningly disturbing.

The efficient unobtrusive servants created a semblance of normality to contrast with the unnerving environment, while Nikki Dunsford and Andrew Wesby as ghostly apparitions Miss Jessel and Peter Quint were strangely gruesome and utterly believable as they appeared on the stairs, outside the window or on the couch.  Their slow progress into position and subsequent stillness, combined with their silent stares gave me goose bumps.  

It is not a good thing to have ghosts in your head for days afterwards, but it is testament to the Gothic brilliance of this performance of The Turn of the Screw. 

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