Orchestra Victoria

Just announced! Explore Season 2026

Benjamin Britten

The Turn of the Screw

Victorian Opera

VO2026 The Turn of the Screw 2

Henry James’ gothic novella The Turn of the Screw is brought to life in Bejamin Britten’s opera, where sinister forces may – or may not – be lurking.

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  • Melbourne / Naarm

    Palais Theatre
    Lower Esplanade, St Kilda

  • Duration

    2 hours and 20 minutes, including interval

    The Turn of the Screw is an original production by State Opera South Australia. By Arrangement with Origin Theatrical. By permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers

    Language: Sung in English

  • Ticket Price Range

    $39 – $155

Henry James’ gothic novella has spooked generations of readers with this chilling tale of a governess, the children in her ward, and sinister forces that may — or may not — be tormenting them.

Benjamin Britten’s 1954 adaptation dials up the suspense and leaves you questioning everything you have just witnessed.

In a haunting production by Stuart Maunder, the scale of this chamber opera is both intimate and immense. Nothing is what it seems in the eerie setting of an English manor home, strikingly conjured by Tony Award-winning designer Roger Kirk.

Conductor and Britten specialist Paul Kildea leads Orchestra Victoria and a star cast, headed by soprano Rachelle Durkin as the terrorised governess and tenor Kanen Breen as the ghostly presence, Peter Quint.

Prepare for a spine-tingling night at opera.

Cast & Creative

Composer: Benjamin Britten
Librettist: Myfanwy Piper

Based on the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

CREATIVE TEAM                    

Conductor: Paul Kildea
Director: Stuart Maunder
Set & Costume Designer: Roger Kirk
Lighting Designer: Trudy Dalgleish

CAST  

Governess: Rachelle Durkin
Prologue / Peter Quint: Kanen Breen
Mrs Grose: Sharon Prero
Miss Jessel: Michaela Cadwgan

Orchestra Victoria

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VO2026 The Turn of the Screw 2