Kathleen McAuley Irvine, Toby Beynon and Amy Tara [Alex Brenner]

THE TURN OF THE SCREW
Arcola Theatre
3 stars

GIVEN the current doom and gloom around AI and humanity’s imminent extinction, it’s initially a relief to watch Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s adaptation of Henry James’s old-fashioned gothic horror.

Amy Tara plays a young, inexperienced governess sent to Bly, a remote country mansion, to care for orphans Flora (Kathleen McAuley Irvine) and Miles (Toby Beynon). The house is presided over by housekeeper Mrs Grose (Katy Slater), though it’s not clear whether she is friend or foe.

It’s not long before the governess suspects her wards are possessed by the ghosts of two dead servants, Jessel and Quint. Irvine and Beynon double as the apparitions. She recounts her version of events to a strange man (Jim Fish), leaving us to question whether she’s a reliable witness: are there ghosts at Bly? Are the children corrupted? Or is she increasingly unhinged by fear?

James intended the story to be ambiguous, but Lloyd Malcolm’s adaptation lacks psychological complexity, and clunky dialogue, with characters repeating each other, dilutes tension.

Part of the problem also lies in Nicky Allpress’s staging. The Arcola seats audiences on three sides, yet the screens through which the ghosts appear face only one. Matthew Cassar’s design and Oliver McNally’s lighting work hard to create these moments, but only some of the audience get the full effect.

There are some effective jump scares, and it’s competently acted, but over the two hours I never felt invested enough in the characters to care about their fates, whether the governess is telling the truth, or has internalised the threat. The traditional storytelling isn’t frightening enough to offer a proper escape.

Until October 10
arcolatheatre.com/