Review: THE TURN OF THE SCREW at Santa Fe Opera

Full disclosure: I usually don’t review opera. I am a Broadway kid at heart, and while I appreciate the form, opera is usually not my cup of tea. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the Santa Fe Opera’s production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, playing now through August 5 at the iconic opera house on the hill in beautiful Santa Fe, NM.

The opera house itself is an experience, as it is outdoors and the back of the stage is open to the incredible view of the high desert. For many operas, the view plays into the story, but for this one, it was the dark night sky that truly helped set the mood for this gothic ghost story.

The plot revolves around a nameless Governess, (former SFO Apprentice Artist soprano Jacquelyn Stucker) who has arrived to take care of two orphaned children living at Bly, a spooky, run-down but stately mansion in rural England.

The Governess has been given strict instructions that she cannot bother the children’s patron and uncle but take full control of their care and raising. Only the housekeeper (mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano), other grounds staff we don’t see and the two children will be the people she interacts with.

The children, Flora (soprano Annie Blitz in her SFO debut) and Miles (treble Everett Baumgarten, also in his SFO debut) seem like a typical brother and sister, playing, teasing and chasing each other around the stage. They seem to take quickly to the governess, and all is well, until she receives a letter from Miles’s headmaster stating that he has been dismissed for troubling, but not fully disclosed, reasons. Miles tells her that he is bad, and she reassures him that he is loved and a good boy.

Around this time, the governess begins to see ghosts in the house, specifically the estate’s deceased valet and governess: Peter Quint (tenor Brenton Ryan) and Miss Jessel (soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer). No one else seems to see the two apparitions, so it is not clear if she actually is seeing them or going mad for other reasons (does every opera have a mad scene or plot line?). It seems that Miles has some strange attachment to the ghostly Quint, or are his disturbing actions being interpreted through the eyes of a mad governess? Are the children playing tricks on a caretaker they have come to see as an easy mark due to her instability? Is the Governess mad or just lonely and in need of more adult companionship? All of these questions and others seem to be the turns of the proverbial screw of the title.

In her notes, director Louisa Muller says that she wants the audience to question whether or not the ghosts are real. She says, “You interpret the performance in the way that makes sense to you.” She also states that she sees the house as another character in the story, a fact that has been translated with aplomb by Scenic and Costume Designer Christopher Oram and Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth. The vast, smudged glass doors and windows shed eerie shadows on the crumbling drawing room, and even though the room is vast, it seems very close and cloying, as if the governess is not only trapped in her thoughts, but in the house itself.

The vocal performances of the small chamber opera are all excellent – Stucker is particularly strong in a grueling role; she doesn’t leave the stage for more than a minute or two during the entire 2.5-hour performance. Brenton Ryan is suitably scary and Ms. Harmer slightly less so; they both could have ramped up the spooky factor to make it feel a little more threatening and tense. The children, parts usually played by young adults, were both surprisingly strong vocally, Ms. Blitz being a particular standout. Cano as the housekeeper provides much-needed humor and comfort for the haunted governess and children.  

Special kudos to Conductor Gemma New (SFO Debut), who leads with authority and an energy that matches the haunting, eerie score. The 13-piece orchestra did a fantastic job of bringing Britten’s music to life – there truly is nothing better than a live orchestra for a musical performance.