by Daniel Hathaway

Benjamin Britten’s tightly-wound chamber opera, The Turn of the Screw, based on Henry James’s novella of the same name, opens for a four-day run at the Allman Theatre at Baldwin Wallace University on Thursday, February 14. A psychological thriller, the story involves a Governess hired to look after Miles and Flora, the wards of a London gentleman who are ensconced at Bly, an English country house run by Mrs. Gross, the housekeeper. Two former servants, Peter Quint and Miss Jessell have died but return as ghosts visible only to the children, with whom they have a mysterious relationship.

We met up with director Benjamin Wayne Smith and conductor Dean Williamson (formerly of Opera Cleveland) in Smith’s office at Baldwin Wallace to talk about the production, which has a cast of six singers (double cast for this production) and a chamber orchestra of fifteen solo instruments. [Read more…]