THE TURN OF THE SCREW (Opera North)****

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odvj84x1NS0

Available until: Unknown

I’ve loved Henry James’ novella since I was a kid (not that that was very long ago) and I will never ever forgive my English teacher for spoiling it all, trying to make everything about sexual repression. Anyone would think these teachers were the teenagers, they’re obsessed! Some people just need to get out less. (My teachers also said Othello isn’t a very good play. Says it all really.)

I mean, I’m not entirely against the concept of sex. You ask my husband. I can guarantee he’ll blush. But there’s a time and a place for it – and there’s no place for sexual repression in The Turn of the Screw.

Think about it for a minute. Even if you were sexually repressed, why would you suddenly start seeing people you’ve never heard of? It’s not like the Governess thought: “Ooh, this guy who just interviewed me is fit, I wonder if he’s got Instagram” and then she finds Peter Quint’s obituary which has a photo from his Facebook account, showing him completely off his face (because most people seem to be off their faces on Facebook), and then she see he’s ‘in a relationship with Miss Jessel’... The world wasn’t like that when The Turn of the Screw was written.

I suppose the Governess might have seen a newspaper article which might have had unusually good quality pictures of the master, Quint and Miss Jessel and then she might just happened to end up being interviewed by that really hot guy with the nice house, but that’s a few too many coincidences for me. The most you could claim is that her mental health problems made her unusually susceptible to paranormal activity – but you can’t get rid of the paranormal activity. Simple explanations are usually the best. (I really should write that on a post-it note and look at it next time my husband asks why his hairspray bottle is empty already. If I’d just said they never fill those bottles properly, he might have believed me.)

Some people think there’s a sexual element in the relationship between Peter Quint, Miss Jessel and the children. Now if my teachers had talked about that, I might have listened. No guarantees as I might have been too busy coveting the nail polish of the girl who sat next to me (nail polish was actually forbidden for girls, though no-one had bothered to ban it for boys, a fact I’ll always wish I’d taken full advantage of), but that theory does fit with the disturbing nature of Quint’s power over Miles, so there could be something in that.

So now I’ve got my little rant out of the way, I was delighted to find that Benjamin Britten seems to think my teachers were talking out of somewhere other than their mouths and he’s turned the story into a brilliantly creepy opera, with sex only in the most inappropriate places – and then only hinted at. I didn’t like director Alessandro Talevi’s decision (though he’s not the first) for Miles to plant one on the Governess, because for one thing we’ve had quite enough of that in Emmerdale. But although the Governess didn’t respond and I’m sure it was Quint’s idea, it was an icky end to Act One which really isn’t the best way to sell interval ice-creams.

Talevi made a couple of other surprising decisions, but I like them. Instead of playing the piano (though we still hear the music), Miles spins endlessly as the Governess and Mrs Grose applaud, but I see it as Quint using Miles to hypnotise the women. Flora’s doll becomes a puppet on strings, with Flora manipulating the doll just as Miss Jessel manipulates her.

Madeleine Boyd’s set seems to have a lot of furniture, but it creates angles and shadows, which are used very effectively in Matthew Haskins’ lighting design. There’s also the rocking horse at the back which moves of its own accord – it’s creepy even if you know there are ghosts around.

The cast couldn’t really be any better, which is quite annoying as I’d have loved to have a good moan about one or two of them. Sarah Tynan is a gentle, loving Governess who revels in finding a family before the horror takes hold. Her gorgeous soprano is lighter than that of many Governesses, but this emphasises the idea of the Governess’ youth and innocence (Sarah doesn’t look anything like 43. I would suggest she’s got a portrait in the attic, but I want her to share her secret with me so I’d better be nice). Yes, Sarah Tynan is just so wonderful! (Actually, she really is.)

Tim Gasiorek and Jennifer Clark are impossibly good as Miles and Flora. They’re so secure vocally and their voices are sufficiently well-developed to blend easily with the adults’. Tim is grave and self-contained, but in a way that commands attention (I might try that. It sounds a lot less tiring than having another diva strop). Jennifer is a playful Flora, until the Governess confronts her, when her emotional reaction is a bit of a shock. It’s a reminder of how fragile these children are – and it’s very clear why Mrs Grose (the very motherly Heather Shipp, with an enduringly pragmatic attitude that extends even to ghosts) begins to doubt the Governess. I’d be doubting her too if I hadn’t read the story.

Nicholas Watts can be harsh-voiced as Peter Quint, but at times he lightens his voice in a way that makes him sound eerily like Miles and you wonder exactly how much control he has over the children. Eleanor Dennis is an unusually glamorous Mrs Jessel and not nearly as shrieky as most. You can look and sound good and still freak people out. (I should know.)