Turn of the Screw

Curtis Opera Theatre | November 18, 2022 7:30 p.m.

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.

View the program book.


Artists
CHAS RADER-SHIEBER Stage Director
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

Subscribe and Save

Subscribe to a season of performances and enjoy access to a number of exciting benefits.

Can't Make This Date?

Turn of the Screw will hit the stage again on November 20 at 2:30 p.m.

Special Thanks

The Curtis Opera Theatre is generously supported by the Ernestine Bacon Cairns Trust, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Wyncote Foundation.

Upcoming Events

See All Events

Bach and Ponce

March 29, 2024 5:30 p.m.
Curtis Institute of Music, Field Concert Hall

Yejin Ahn, clarinet

March 29, 2024 7:30 p.m.
Curtis Institute of Music, Field Concert Hall

Intersection

March 30, 2024 7:30 p.m.
Curtis Institute of Music, Gould Rehearsal Hall