The Turn of the Screw is one of the most enduring ghost stories and one of the least obvious. Its fright quotient comes from a sense of dread that builds to fear. The fear is brought on not by what’s seen but what isn’t. Or might have been. The 1898 novella by Henry James is filled with ambiguity and unanswered questions that leave it open to interpretation.
Maybe that’s why it’s been interpreted so many times.
If the spooky season hasn’t quite ended for you yet, Opera Tampa performs The Turn of the Screw Nov. 21 and 23 in Ferguson Hall. This main stage season opener is the first of Britton’s works for Opera Tampa.
The story of innocence confronting evil has spawned a great number of adaptations including a ballet, a musical and dozens of film and television interpretations, including a 2020 Netflix miniseries under the title The Haunting of Bly Manor.
One of the most artistically significant interpretations of the story is the opera composed by Benjamin Britten, one of the most important figures in 20th century music. The Guardian named it one of the top 50 operas of all time, praising it as one of Britten’s “most dramatically appealing” works, adding that it “makes you think twice about seeing and believing.”
Britten wasn’t the first to bring Turn to the stage, though. His opera premiered in 1954 while William Archibald’s The Innocents, based on Turn, had its Broadway debut in 1950.
The play became the basis for the 1961 film The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr, and with a screenplay by Archibald which was heavily reworked by Truman Capote. It’s widely considered the best interpretation of The Turn of the Screw and one of the best horror films ever made.
The same has not been said about The Nightcomers, a misbegotten 1971 prequel focused on the relationship between Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. Marlon Brandon played Quint in the film which was a critical and commercial bomb.
The year 2020 was especially bountiful for Turn adaptations. In addition to the Netflix series, there were two big screen adaptations. The Turning was a mostly straightforward telling of James’ tale, but apparently not a good one. Critics savaged it and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a rare F grade.
Another 2020 release took the name of the novella but set the action not in an English manor but in a theater in which a cast is rehearsing, wait for it, The Turn of the Screw. An actress arrives for her first rehearsal, on the eve of opening night. She’s replacing the lead who mysteriously left the production. Why she left becomes apparent as elements of the novella come to life on stage, and not in the good way.
And yes, there is a musical version of Turn. The 2015 work by Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith won praise from critics who described it as “eerie and hypnotic.” Somewhere, Henry James is smiling.
For tickets or more information on Opera Tampa’s Turn of the Screw, please call (813) 222-7827 or click here to buy tickets.