The Turn of the Screw
by Jeffrey Hatcher
Directed by Morgan Maul-Smith
West End Players Guild
October 4, 2024
Rob McLemore, Payton Gillam
Photo by John Lamb
West End Players Guild
It’s October, and in the spooky Halloween mindset, West End Players Guild is presenting a haunting, impeccably cast thriller. Featuring only two performers playing all the roles, this simply staged adaptation of Henry James’s classic The Turn of the Screw by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is a fascinating mystery with an edge of creepiness that works especially well for this season. The biggest highlight of this show is its marvelous cast.
Cast members Payton Gillam and Rob McLemore are billed in the program as simply “The Woman” and “The Man”, respectively, although Gillam plays one role throughout the story, while McLemore plays several. The Woman is a governess, hired by a mysterious man to take charge of his orphaned niece and nephew on his family’s country estate called Bly. She befriends the only other adult on the premises, the housekeeper Mrs. Grose, and quickly meets and loves Flora, the little girl who is either unwilling or unable to speak. Soon they are joined by the boy, 10-year-old Miles, who has been dismissed from his school for undisclosed “unspeakable” reasons. As the governess gets to know the children and the house, she soon begins to see ghostly apparitions, apparently of a man and woman who used to work at the house, and she becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the cause of the haunting and driving the spirits away. Are the ghosts real? Why is the governess so preoccupied? What do the children know? This mystery unfolds in an increasingly suspenseful narrative as the Woman looks for answers to the mystery that threatens to consume her and affects her perception of reality and her health, as well as the wellbeing of those around her.
The tone of this show is in keeping with the Gothic thriller genre, with its setting, characterization, and overall vibe. The cast is stellar, led by a strikingly convincing performance from Gillam as the initially somewhat naive but increasingly obsessed governess. Gillam plays every scene with credible energy and a palpable sense of growing suspicion. Also excellent is McLemore in a variety of roles, from the imperious, evasive Gentleman who hires the Woman, to the kindly Mrs. Grose, to the enigmatic young Miles, who becomes a major focus of the Woman’s suspicions, and obsession. The growing suspense is well-maintained in the brisk pacing from the actors and director Morgan Maul-Smith, with the sense of enigma and mystery insistently ramping up to keep the audience interested, and guessing.
The production values here are impressive, even in their simplicity. The relatively basic set by Maul-Smith is an effective backdrop for the action, augmented by strikingly effective lighting also designed by Maul-Smith that underscores the classic Gothic tone of the story. There are also impressively detailed costumes by Tracey Newcombe that add to the credibility of the story. Even though there aren’t any flashy sets or special effects, the pacing, lighting and overall tone-setting help to aid the audience’s imagination of what is happening.
Whether you are familiar with the source novel or any of its film adaptions or not, The Turn of the Screw at West End Players Guild is a riveting, thoroughly suspenseful story led by a fantastic two-person cast. It works well for this time of year, as well. If you’re looking for some classic Gothic horror/suspense/mystery for Halloween season, this is a great show to check out.
Payton Gilliam, Rob McLemore
Photo by John Lamb
West End Players Guild
West End Players Guild is presenting The Turn of the Screw at Union Avenue Christian Church until October 13, 2024
