''The Turn of the Screw'' is a

theatrical adaptation In a theatrical adaptation, material from another artistic medium, such as a novel or a film is re-written according to the needs and requirements of the theatre and turned into a play or musical. Elision and interpolation Directors must mak ...

Jeffrey Hatcher Jeffrey Hatcher is a much-produced American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the stage play ''Compleat Female Stage Beauty'', which he later adapted into a screenplay, shortened to just '' Stage Beauty'' (2004). He also co-wrote the stage a ...

of the 1898 novella of the same name by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

. Hatcher developed the adaptation with the

Portland Stage Company Portland Stage Company is a professional LORT (League of Resident Theaters) theater company in the state of Maine. Founded as the Profile Theatre in 1974 as a touring theater company, the company made Portland its permanent location in 1976. In 1 ...

as part of its Little Festival of the Unexpected program in 1995, and it debuted at the company's home theater in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

on January 11, 1996. In 1999, the play was staged

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

by the

Primary Stages Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company. In 2004, Primary Stages moved from its 99-seat home of 17 years at 354 West 45th Street to the 199-seat theater at 59E59 Theaters. In 2014, the ...

company. Director

Melia Bensussen Melia Bensussen (born September 18, 1962) is an American theatre director and producer who has been artistic director of the Hartford Stage since 2019. She won an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction for '' Turn of the Screw'' in 1999 and is Pr ...

won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for the Primary Stages production.

Cast and characters

The play is performed with two actors. One portrays "The Woman" (the equivalent of the governess in the novella), while the other actor plays all the other characters. The cast from the Portland Stage premier production and the Primary Stages Off-Broadway production are given below:

Reception

In ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', theatre critic

Charles Isherwood Charles Splaine Isherwood Jr. (born October 1964) is an American theater critic. Career A graduate of Stanford University, Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of '' Variety'', where he was promote ...

said the Primary Stages production was "disappointingly unsubtle, unsuspenseful and altogether ineffectual", although he credited Bensussen's direction and other production elements for trying to make up for shortcomings in the script. The production also received negative reviews in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turn of the Screw, The 1996 plays English-language plays Off-Broadway plays One-act plays Plays based on novels Plays by Jeffrey Hatcher Works based on The Turn of the Screw Plays based on works by Henry James