In case you're not familiar with The Turn of the Screw, I will give you a brief summary of the plot (a more in depth synopsis can be found on the LA Opera's website). The Governess- we never learn the name of our protagonist- is charged with the complete care of two children, Flora and Miles, while their guardian is away. Shortly after arriving at the estate, a strange man appears before her. She describes the man to the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, who identifies him as Peter Quint, a former man servant at the estate who had seduced the former governess, Miss Jessel. Both Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are dead, yet both continue to appear before the Governess. She becomes convinced that the two spirits are after Miles and Flora, and she becomes determined to protect them. As the story (told from the eyes of the Governess) unfolds, the Governess becomes increasingly paranoid while the audience begins to wonder if the phantoms are merely in her imagination. The ambiguity of the novel is what makes it so chilling. We are left to wonder what is real and what is imagined, and what really happened between Quint and Jessel and Miles and Flora. I am curious how the stage adaptation will incorporate this ambiguity which, in the novella, is created by the unreliable narrator.
The LA Times describes the LA Opera's production of The Turn of the Screw as one worth notice for the "cleverness of a director and designer and the devotion of singers, a virtuoso instrumental ensemble and [conducter James] Conlon's engaged conducting". After tonight there will be four more performances, the last on Wednesday March 30th at 7:30. Tickets range in price from $20 to $240. For more information on this chilling opera, visit the event page here.
Cast:
GOVERNESS: Patricia Racette
PROLOGUE/PETER QUINT: William Burden
MILES: Michael Kepler Meo
FLORA: Ashley Emerson
MRS. GROSE: Ann Murray
MISS JESSEL: Tamara Wilson
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