Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of this Henry James classic highlights the psychological suspense by calling for just two actors: one to play the governess, the other to play multiple characters whose stories swirl alternative facts inside the novice governess’s head. She is warned, she doubts herself. But she persists.
The wood-paneled fellowship hall of Minneapolis’s Victorian-style Historic Wesley Center increased the gothic atmosphere, making for some chilling scenes.
Half an hour before each performance, Dr. Ed Griffin, professor of English (emeritus) at the U of Minnesota, gave a 15-minute introduction that alerted audiences to things to look for as well as differences between James’s novella and Hatcher’s adaptation.