Bride of the Screw

The script for our production of Turn of the Screw makes some interesting changes to the original story. In James things transpire in a perfectly balanced ambiguity, chilly and intellectual. In our play it's more of a melodrama, with accusations, arguments and agonized cries. In James the women are friends united against a percieved external threat; in our play the women are constantly veering into class conflict. In James the rational interpretation of events is left unspoken, conspicuous by its absence, but in our production Mrs Grose becomes an uncertain voice of reason.

I am sorry Mrs. Grose isn't friends with the Governess in our version, but perhaps a two-person adaptation with a minimalist production needs some interpersonal conflict to keep it from turning into an Edwardian Noh play. Then again, an Edwardian Noh play might be just what James would want. Probably not most of the audience, though.