A visually and sensory stimulating piece of theatre
Turn of the Screw directed by Nicky Allpress and written by Morgan Lloyd Malcom is a visually and sensory stimulating piece of theatre.
Entering into the dimmed theatre, the design team easily establishes a pre-show sense of mystery and fracture allowing the audience to settle into an eerie atmosphere. The story follows a new governess who goes to the country to take care of two orphaned siblings. While the environment is seemingly pleasant, the plot soon unravels to reveal both psychological and physical horror.
The visual elements of the play are established from the start with power. Oliver McNally (lighting), Matthew Cassar (costume/set), and Hattie North (sound) work in a seamless synchronicity. Within moments, the physical world with minimal set is fully established and the vastness and depth of the house is actualized with sound and lighting. Sudden sound cues and lighting shifts cause physical reactions and incite fear in the audience.
While the design elements are consistently appealing and strong, the choice of establishing it so quickly unfortunately lends to a slower actualization of the play. The genre of horror does not come as a surprise so it leads to the audience wanting faster and sudden plot reveals rather than elongated moments of the family interacting or long lines of investigation from the police towards the governess. A huge and beautiful stunning excerpt of the play is when a piece of paper is set on fire and suddenly disappears, the audience gasps questioning where the paper goes, that trick can be accredited to the talent of illusionist Wayne Fox.
Amy Tara plays a beautifully well-rounded governess with naivety and strength. Malcolm uses the sense of a fractured world to play with the timeline of the play by allowing it to exist in both memory and flawed recollection. Moments of the play explain how the governess got herself into the job while flashing forward into a police/detective investigation of her experience in the home. Tara zaps back and forth from the past and the present with ease and focus by having a strong emotional connection to the text.
The relationship between the governess and the children versus the groundskeeper is consistent and strong. Kathleen Irvine is a standout with her physical work and youthful nature, she plays Flora with innocence and freedom. Toby Beynon mirrors that strength while playing Miles as disciplined and kind. The strength in both actors is shown by the plot revelation nearer to the end of the play balancing multiple characters with finesse. Additionally, Janita Mikkola’s ensemble work was pivotal in establishing the world of horror and reality that the family lives in.
Katy Slater also plays an impressively dry housekeeper who acts ignorant to the world of the play. The end of the play provokes questions in regards to the sense of reality and the governess’s account of what has happened. Malcolm has done great work in creating a commentary on whether women’s stories are believed and the circumstances in which they are pushed to. Simultaneously, the premise of the play is absurd and unique which caters towards the question of what is real and not real.
If you have never experienced a horror theatre show, this is definitely an experiential piece with lots of strength. While the plot and timing of the show can benefit from speed and humor, it is a well acted production that is visually and vocally stunning.