Turn of the Screw
Britten's Gothic Tale of Terror
Based on Henry James’s chilling 19th-century novella, Benjamin Britten’s psychological thriller The Turn of the Screw launches the Curtis Opera Theatre season with a spine-tingling tale of ghosts and possession at the Philadelphia Film Center. Directed by Chas Rader-Shieber and conducted by Michelle Rofrano, this atmospheric masterpiece has kept audiences on the edge of their seats for over six decades.
A young governess travels to a remote English country house to care for two precocious young orphans. Greeted by the housekeeper Mrs. Grose, she discovers a dark and twisted past looming over Bly Manor. The children’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, but the distraught governess is instructed never to disturb their guardian in London. With each bizarre new incident, she starts to believe that they are haunted by a pair of menacing spirits—Miss Jessel, the children’s depraved former governess, and the abusive valet Peter Quint, her diabolical lover.
Questioning her sanity, she soon becomes entangled in a battle for their souls. Are these apparitions real or simply a figment of an overactive imagination? Are the children innocent, wicked, or unwitting pawns in a spectral game of chess? Britten’s ingenious chamber opera rachets up the tension as it builds to a terrifying, claustrophobic conclusion.
This opera contains some mature themes.
Run time: 2 hours and 10 minutes (inclusive of a 20-minute intermission)
Benjamin Britten, Music
Myfanwy Piper, Libretto
Sung in English with English supertitles.
Program
CHAS RADER-SHIEBER | Stage Director |
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MICHELLE ROFRANO | Conductor |
EMILY DAMASCO | Mrs. Grose |
SAM HIGGINS | Prologue |
EMILIE KEALANI | Miss Jessell |
MAYA MOR MITRANI | Flora |
BEN SCHAEFER | Peter Quint |
OLIVIA SMITH | Governess |
CAVAN HURLEY* |
Miles
*Guest Artist |
Special Thanks
The Curtis Opera Theatre is generously supported by the Ernestine Bacon Cairns Trust, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Wyncote Foundation.
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- Date Nov 18, 2022
- Time 7:30 P.M.
- Location Philadelphia Film Center
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Can't Make This Date?
Turn of the Screw will hit the stage again on November 20 at 2:30 p.m.