One good ‘Turn’ deserves another

Jeffrey Hatcher’s spooky adaptation of Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw” creeps its way into Actors Co-op’s Crossley Theatre just in time for Halloween.

In ghost stories, isolation, both physical and psychological, is typically key. In “Screw,” the story revolves around a nameless Governess hired to care for two children at a remote English estate. Initially charmed by her charges, the Governess begins to suspect that these “innocents” were schooled in vice by a sinister valet and the former governess.

Are the hauntings genuine? Or is the Governess in the grip of escalating psychosis? Hatcher opts for straightforward ghost story in an ingenious version that features one actor playing the Governess and another playing the other roles.

A veteran actor himself, director Robertson Dean elicits nuanced performances. As the Governess, Natalie Hope Macmillan is gripping as a sexually repressed spinster obsessed with the supernatural. Isaac Wade displays virtuosic range as a warmhearted housekeeper and as young Miles, whose apparent “corruption” hints at sexual victimization. Dean’s minimalist staging is striking for its stylistic economy, but JeanYves Tessier’s murky lighting tends to obscure faces at important junctures. Still, this eerie staging satisfies our seasonal craving for the supernatural.