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Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Startling moments … Amy Tara in Turn of the Screw. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian Theatre Review The Turn of the Screw review – Henry James’s classic ghost story with added jump scares Arcola theatre, London This slick production of Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s adaptation is hampered by its own cleverness Arifa Akbar Sun 20 Sep 2026 18.03 CEST Last modified on Sun 20 Sep 2026 21.19 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google H ere is Henry James’s canonical ghost story with modern-day jump scares. And, more audaciously, a new framing device by writer-adapter, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, which explains itself in a final, added, twist. The jump scares do their work, Hattie North’s jagged sound design enacting its shocks, and the production is slick and stylised – but not all the elements pay off. It is the same story, of a governess (Amy Tara) who, wooed by a roguish gentleman (Jim Fish) becomes a tutor to two young charges in a tenure that culminates in tragedy. Lloyd Malcolm’s framing device features an unnamed (imaginary or real?) man interrogating the governess’ version of events: that her two seemingly angelic charges are possessed. His accusatory questioning suggests the age-old contention that the woman is an unreliable narrator and unhinged fantasist but his interruptions are too numerous, hampering the buildup of dread and tension. The chopped up nature of the story (you hear what is coming, travelling back and forth in time sequences) has the same effect. The production sets itself up with great promise. The two children, Flora (Kathleen McAuley Irvine) and Miles (Toby Beynon), appear suddenly out of darkness on Matthew Cassar’s elegantly gothic set of screens. So does housekeeper, Mrs Grose (Katy Slater, not the friend and confidante she is in the novella), as well as the apparitions of dead manservant Quint and former governess Miss Jessel (played by the children). Directed by Nicky Allpress, the action is stylised, with minimal props used. Flora’s eerie doll raises the hairs and the screens are used inventively. But you don’t always know what is going on, which becomes most apparent in the lake scene in which the governess finds herself under water. There are whistles, screams and characters who suddenly appear and disappear. It’s creepy, but too much too soon, leading to inevitable repetition. View image in fullscreen Inventive screens … Tara, Toby Beynon and Kathleen McAuley in Turn Of The Screw. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian The children look like grownups, in costume, and this draws them closer to the adults (Quint for Miles, and Miss Jessel for Flora) who the governess believes have taken possession of them. It gives them an added edge of sinister knowingness that comes close to menace at times: Flora’s glassy-eyed smiles and Miles’s joshing as he queasily puts his head under the governess’s skirts. But his innocence is particularly eclipsed by Beynon’s physicality: he looks like Quint from the off, so it is harder to believe in him as the 10-year-old. There are some startling visual moments: the screens do a fine job of bringing on characters as if out of nowhere. The final twist, looping back to the beginning, half explains the puzzle of the governess’s interrogation (Who is the man? What does he want to prove? Which timeframe is she in?) and the idea of women having to eternally defend their version of events. But the production is hampered by its own cleverness, the elliptic storytelling a distraction from the clarity and intrigue of this story’s psychological questions around fear, sexual desire and moral corruption. At Arcola theatre, London , until 10 October Explore more on these topics Theatre Henry James Arcola theatre reviews Share Reuse this content Most viewed Most viewed Books Music TV & radio Art & design Film Games Classical Stage News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning Sign up for our email About us Help Complaints & corrections Contact us Tip us off SecureDrop Privacy policy Cookie policy Tax strategy Terms & conditions All topics All writers Newsletters Digital newspaper archive Bluesky Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Threads TikTok YouTube Advertise with us Search UK jobs Tips Accessibility settings Work with us Back to top © 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)
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