A young governess journeys to a lonely English manor house to care for two recently orphaned children. But she is not their first governess. Her predecessor, Miss Jessel, drowned herself when she became pregnant by the sadistic valet, Peter Quint, who was himself found dead soon after under mysterious circumstances. Now the new governess has begun to see the specters of Quint and Jessel haunting the children, and she must find a way to stop the fiends before it is too late. But one frightening question tortures the would-be heroine: Are the ghosts real, or are they the product of her own fevered imagination?
Turn of the Screw
Critics
LemonMeter
Reviews: 4
Reviews
Novelist Henry James' 1898 Gothic novella The Turn of the Screw has oft been adapted for the big and little screen, opera and in its latest incarnation by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, it's currently scaring the bejesus out of ticket buyers at The Harold Clurman Lab Theater - just in time for Halloween.
Sulzberger as the troubled governess never leaves the stage during the entire 100 minute performance without an BWW Review: Two Actors Take on Ten Roles in THE TURN OF THE SCREW at the Art of Acting Studiointermission, while Spann takes on the other 9 roles including the two children, their mysterious father, the housekeeper and current groundskeeper by changing his physicality, often right before our eyes. To make matters even more interesting, the young girl who seems to be controlling everyone else via strange powers, is invisible and mute. And what is about her brother that winds up frightening the young and innocent governess to the point of madness?
Whether the ghosts are real or figments of the governess's overheated psyche has been a question surrounding this work for a very long time. The stage adaptation gives the nudging impression that they are products of a frazzled mind. This is not an easy play to stage effectively, and unfortunately there is little scare or terror in director Don Williams' surprisingly bland production. Spann doesn't handle his roles with consistent credibility, and at times it is a task to understand what Sulzberger is saying because she very often speaks in a breathless flurry. The production would also benefit greatly from more imagination by Williams. Johnny Patrick Yoder's eerie lighting schema is effective and works well with Merve Dobai's sparse set design. and Michael Mullen's costumes are attractive.
The Aussie Ms. Sulzberger conveys an increasing hysteria, as The Woman's aspiration devolves from finding Mr. Right to encountering sheer terror. But with his continually shifting roles (with only slight costume modifications), this is really Mr. Spann's production, as he steals the show with his onstage morphing – or “turning,” as the case may be.
Novelist Henry James' 1898 Gothic novella The Turn of the Screw has oft been adapted for the big and little screen, opera and in its latest incarnation by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, it's currently scaring the bejesus out of ticket buyers at The Harold Clurman Lab Theater - just in time for Halloween.
Sulzberger as the troubled governess never leaves the stage during the entire 100 minute performance without an BWW Review: Two Actors Take on Ten Roles in THE TURN OF THE SCREW at the Art of Acting Studiointermission, while Spann takes on the other 9 roles including the two children, their mysterious father, the housekeeper and current groundskeeper by changing his physicality, often right before our eyes. To make matters even more interesting, the young girl who seems to be controlling everyone else via strange powers, is invisible and mute. And what is about her brother that winds up frightening the young and innocent governess to the point of madness?
Whether the ghosts are real or figments of the governess's overheated psyche has been a question surrounding this work for a very long time. The stage adaptation gives the nudging impression that they are products of a frazzled mind. This is not an easy play to stage effectively, and unfortunately there is little scare or terror in director Don Williams' surprisingly bland production. Spann doesn't handle his roles with consistent credibility, and at times it is a task to understand what Sulzberger is saying because she very often speaks in a breathless flurry. The production would also benefit greatly from more imagination by Williams. Johnny Patrick Yoder's eerie lighting schema is effective and works well with Merve Dobai's sparse set design. and Michael Mullen's costumes are attractive.
The Aussie Ms. Sulzberger conveys an increasing hysteria, as The Woman's aspiration devolves from finding Mr. Right to encountering sheer terror. But with his continually shifting roles (with only slight costume modifications), this is really Mr. Spann's production, as he steals the show with his onstage morphing – or “turning,” as the case may be.