The Turn of the Screw (Frinton)

The characters are called simply The Man and The Woman. He begins as a narrator, but then takes on the roles of the housekeeper Mrs Grose as well as that of young Miles; she is the governess sent to Bly to take charge of two young and disturbed orphans. The girl Flora, her the former governess Miss Jessel and the late master’s valet Peter Quint are never made corporeal. The grey set with its off-kilter steps, angles and arches as well as the monochrome costumes suit the concept admirably.

James deliberately left the truths (or otherwise) of what happens – from the new governess’s initial interview in London with the children’s disengaged guardian-uncle through to the unravelling of the histories of Miss Jessel and Quint, their influence on Flora and Miles through to the terrible consequence of her intervention – in an ambiguous mist. We have to make up our own minds as to what is real, and what is in a young woman’s imagination.

Edward Max’s production has two very good actors. Philip Benjamin switches from slightly-detached narrator to the motherly Mrs Grose and the precocious Miles with convincing ease. Laura Wells has to sustain out interest in the governess as she switches from caring pedagogue to ruthless adversary of an intangible evil which she struggles to make explicit. She does so with an intensity which keeps our attention and belief in the passion which informs her every action throughout the play.