Performances on the 9, 13 & 16 of August 2024
Production Supported by Gini & Richard Gabbertas, Kaye & David Lillycrop, and Malcolm Herring
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Location: Waterperry Amphitheatre
Start Time & Duration: Performances start at 7:30pm and finish 9:45pm. There is a short 30-minute Interval Age Guidance Rating: 13+ Contains disturbing themes, moments of mild violence, and limited indirect references to sexual situations.
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Tickets
General booking opens on the 11 April. Festival supporters have priority booking which opens in advance.
Creative Team
Conductor
Bertie Baigent |
Director
Rebecca Meltzer |
Set & Costume Designer
April Dalton |
Lighting Designer
Catja Hamilton |
Repetiteur
Aleksandra Myslek |
Cast
Governess
Charlotte Bowden |
Prologue/Quint
Robin Bailey 
Flora
Beth Burdge |
Miss Jessel
Sian Dicker 
Miles
Ivo Clark |
Mrs Grose
Georgia Mae Ellis |
Listen to The Turn of the Screw
Synopsis
In the Prologue, the tenor describes a written account of the action, in which a young woman tells how she accepted a position in a house with two children on the understanding that she would never contact their guardian.
Act 1
The main action sees the Governess travelling to Bly with trepidation but she is welcomed by the housekeeper Mrs Grose, and takes an instant liking to her young charges, Miles and Flora. A letter, however, arrives from Miles’s school, dismissing him as ‘an injury to his friends’. She decides not to discuss it with him. Seeing a strange man on the tower in the grounds, the Governess describes him to Mrs Grose, who identifies him as Peter Quint, the guardian’s valet, who ‘made free’ with the former governess, Miss Jessel. She left and died, and Quint subsequently died himself. The Governess fears for Miles. At the lake, she becomes aware of the presence of Miss Jessel and that Flora has pretended not to see her. Quint and Miss Jessel then call to Miles and Flora at night, and though the Governess intervenes she does not question the children.
Act 2
The Governess next sees Miss Jessel in the schoolroom. She decides to write to the guardian, but Miles – lured on by Quint – steals the letter, and distracts the adults with his piano playing so that Flora can go to Miss Jessel. Mrs Grose is unable to see the ghost, but her night spent with Flora convinces her that something is badly wrong and she takes the girl away. When the Governess confronts Miles with her suspicions, Quint approaches and speaks directly to the boy, who suddenly dies in the Governess’s arms.
Find out more here: brittenpearsarts.org/music/the-turn-of-the-screw
Act 1
The main action sees the Governess travelling to Bly with trepidation but she is welcomed by the housekeeper Mrs Grose, and takes an instant liking to her young charges, Miles and Flora. A letter, however, arrives from Miles’s school, dismissing him as ‘an injury to his friends’. She decides not to discuss it with him. Seeing a strange man on the tower in the grounds, the Governess describes him to Mrs Grose, who identifies him as Peter Quint, the guardian’s valet, who ‘made free’ with the former governess, Miss Jessel. She left and died, and Quint subsequently died himself. The Governess fears for Miles. At the lake, she becomes aware of the presence of Miss Jessel and that Flora has pretended not to see her. Quint and Miss Jessel then call to Miles and Flora at night, and though the Governess intervenes she does not question the children.
Act 2
The Governess next sees Miss Jessel in the schoolroom. She decides to write to the guardian, but Miles – lured on by Quint – steals the letter, and distracts the adults with his piano playing so that Flora can go to Miss Jessel. Mrs Grose is unable to see the ghost, but her night spent with Flora convinces her that something is badly wrong and she takes the girl away. When the Governess confronts Miles with her suspicions, Quint approaches and speaks directly to the boy, who suddenly dies in the Governess’s arms.
Find out more here: brittenpearsarts.org/music/the-turn-of-the-screw
