The Turn of the Screw

Reviewed by Neal Weaver
The Actors Co-op
Through November 20

RECOMMENDED

Novelist Henry James was a master of ambiguity, and nowhere was he more ambiguous than in the long (150 pages) novella The Turn of the Screw on which this play is loosely based. He seems almost determined not to say what he means — partially, no doubt, due to the restrictive morality of his times, which would not have brooked a tale about the possible depravity of children.

The novella begins with a long preamble about a meeting on Christmas Eve to tell ghost or horror stories, which makes it seem that James is reluctant to tell his story at all. And when he does begin, there are precious few hard facts in the tale. It’s refracted through the narrative of a governess, hired by a prosperous London gentleman to take charge of his wards, 10-year-old Miles and his little sister Flora. What follows has been variously interpreted as a straightforward ghost story, or alternatively as the dangerous fantasies of a naïve and over-imaginative young  woman.

Playwright William Archibald adapted James’s tale as The Innocents, which scored a Broadway success in 1950. In his version, the ghosts were clearly meant to be real: They were seen by the audience. But in James’s story, and in this rendition by Jeffrey Hatcher, the ghosts are seen only by the governess, and possibly figments of her overheated imagination.

Hatcher has reduced the story to the barest of bare bones: It takes place on a near-empty stage, occupied only by an old-fashioned piano stool, a set of stairs, and two banks of spotlights on the floor at opposite corners of the proscenium. The cast is reduced to two actors, The Man (Isaac Wade) and The Woman (Natalie Hope MacMillan).  The Woman plays the governess, while The Man depicts all the other characters: the housekeeper Mrs. Grose, and the children’s handsome but cavalier uncle, who doesn’t want to be bothered, and leaves them entirely in the hands of the governess. He also portrays the child, young Miles. (Flora, the young girl, is said to be present, but we never see her.)

When the governess arrives at Bly House, the Gothic mansion where the children are quartered, young Miles is away at school. Only Flora has been left in the care of Mrs. Grose.

But almost immediately, Miles arrives, having been sent down from school because of misdeeds described as too unspeakable to be discussed, and the school makes it clear that he will not be allowed to return. In the meantime, the governess has seen two mysterious strangers, a balefully handsome red-haired man and a beautiful young woman. From the governess’s description, Mrs. Grose identifies them as Peter Quint, Miles’ former tutor, and Miss Jessel, Flora’s former governess, both of whom died under mysterious circumstances. Our governess soon concludes that the ghosts have corrupted both children, and decides to force a confession from young Miles — which she does, with disastrous consequences.

Hatcher’s version of the tale rather stacks the cards against the governess, in ways that James never quite does. And there is awkwardness in limiting the characters to two. We can perhaps buy the idea of a male actor playing Mrs. Grose, but when a portly adult actor plays a pre-adolescent boy, the results are a bit galumphing. And an invisible Flora is disconcerting at best — though Hatcher has made her mute, to justify the fact that she never speaks.

Hatcher’s version is a thumping good melodrama, which seems to please those who don’t know James’s original. It’s an essay on the original tale, not a full-fledged dramatization, and it is good spooky fare for Halloween.

Robertson Dean directs the piece with authority, and the two actors execute it with zest, skill and flair.

Crossley Theatre at Actors Co-op, 1760 North Gower Street, on the campus of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 2:30 p.m., Sat., 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 and Nov. 19. (323) 462-8460 or www.ActorsCo-op.org. Running time: one hour and 15 minutes with no intermission.