OU Opera will perform “The Turn of the Screw” Oct. 16 through 19, tackling sensitive topics and partnering with Mary Abbott Children’s House, a Norman-based child advocacy center.
“The Turn of the Screw” is an operatic adaptation of Henry James’ 1898 novella, composed by Benjamin Britten and first performed in 1954.
The opera follows a young governess hired to care for two children. As the story unfolds, she grows increasingly convinced that ghosts are haunting the children and trying to corrupt them. The piece blurs the line of reality and the imagination.
Nicole Kenley-Miller, assistant professor of music and opera stage director, said the show addresses serious themes such as child abuse, which led to a collaboration with the Abbott House to help guide the cast on handling the sensitive topic.
“They’re actually going to come and talk to us about how children process abuse and how they cope with it and deal with it,” Miller said. “I think that’s really going to help our actors to understand how to play these characters.”
Mary Abbott Children’s House provides a safe environment for children to share their stories of abuse. According to its website, the organization’s mission is “preventing abuse, advocating for children, and fostering hope and healing.”
Miller said that she is grateful to the Abbott House for their assistance with the production.
“I am so very happy that the Abbott House has agreed to help us understand it better, and then we're going to have in the program for the show, ways that the audience can give and support and volunteer to help those who have been abused,” Miller said.
Miller said she approaches the subject matter with care and aims to help actors convey the story sensitively.
“It’s a difficult thing when you're talking about something that's difficult subject matter, like child abuse and something that we don't talk about a whole lot. It’s sort of an unspeakable subject because nobody wants to think about that horrible thing,” Miller said.
She added that the opera’s theme remains relevant more than a century after the story was written.
“I think what this piece does is it forces us to look at it and see that it happens in the time period of when the novel was written in the late 1800s and it’s still happening today,” Miller said. “I think that this has been a really impactful way to connect with this thing that could feel very distant – like it was written over 100 years ago. It makes it a little more contemporary.”
First-year master’s student Gabrielle Salomon, who portrays the role of the governess, said working with Abbott House has been helpful when collaborating with her and the other actors.
“The Abbott House offered a really unique perspective on how everybody involved in a case like that has a role that they’re playing,” Salomon said.
She said themes of grief and trauma will resonate with the audience.
“You’ll really get to see how different people are affected and process a traumatic event and how that impacts everyone around them,” Salomon said. “Specifically, the children are people that the audience should pay attention to and how their actions are a direct result of what they went through.”
Performances of “The Turn of the Screw” are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Reynolds Performing Arts Center. Tickets start at $17 and are available for purchase at the box office or online. The box office is open from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour prior to the performance.
This story was edited by Madisson Cameron. Tori Pham and Gretchen Schultz copy edited this story.
