Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Towards the end of October when there's a chill in the air and leaves lie upon the ground, it becomes fashionably fun to become a bit preoccupied with things that go bump in the night. Appropriately, Twenty Feet Productions is availing New Yorkers the opportunity to take a jaunt on the dark side by presenting Jeffery Hatcher's unnerving adaptation of Henry James' enduringly ghostly classic "The Turn of the Screw."

The shadowy plot of James' 1892 novella, characterized by Oscar Wilde as "a most wonderful, lurid and poisonous little tale," remains surprisingly intriguing and ambiguous with a multiplicity of characters being portrayed by just two actors, under the astute direction of Marc Silberschatz. Another innervating twist to the dramatic presentation is Dana Sterling's lighting design, consisting solely of individual candles (battery operated) held by each performer. Sitting mostly the in dark of the black box Red Room Theater for the show's 80 minutes, proved perceptionally provoking and often added to the ominous happenings of the play.

At the opening, the soon-to-be governess of the English manor house of Bly is interviewed for that position by a wealthy man who has had the responsibility of his brother's orphaned children thrust upon him. The young woman accepts the situation, agreeing to the uncle's condition that he never be troubled with any concerns which might arise. And there are many disturbing concerns which arise: the seemingly charming children (8-year-old Flora and 10-year old Miles) possess uncanny eeriness, the previous governess (Miss Jessel) and her lover (the cruel valet, Peter Quint) are recently and mysteriously deceased. Flora no longer speaks, Miles has been prematurely dismissed from school for unexplained behavior, the governess sees the ghosts of Jessel and Quint, and she becomes convinced that the evil apparitions will cause harm to the children.

Erin Cunningham does an outstanding job of conveying the apprehension, concern, determination and dread of the troubled young governess; Tim Scott amazingly renders all of the other speaking characters (Narrator, the Uncle, Miles and the faithful housekeeper Mrs. Grose) with amazing dexterity and credibility.

In addition to providing one with a theatrical journey through the obscure recesses of an engagingly spooky story-with several intensely dramatic moments to be savored, "The Turn of the Screw" may, in the end, leave one with several unanswered question (mundane and metaphysical).

Walking on Second Avenue after the show, I saw several individuals in Halloween garb-an aluminum foil wrapped young man and a vampire-caped young woman-on their way to parties, but it wasn't until on the subway that I fully realized the "intellectual horror" that James' story deals with. I was in the company of some pretty scary looking characters (a few made up for festivities) headed to-for me-mysterious places. Isn't it, indeed, what we don't know-rather than what we do-that has the ability to scare the pants off of us“