Ghostly 'Turn of the Screw' offers great acting

"THE TURN OF THE SCREW," through Oct. 3, The Sugar Space, (www.utahtheatreartists.com) running time: 80 minutes, no intermission.

The last Utah Theatre Artists Company production was Neil Simon's "I Ought to Be In Pictures" — a show with great acting, but the setting left a bit to be desired, making it difficult for the actors to really shine.

But, the good news is they've moved. The fledgling theater company has found a home, at least for now, in a tiny, unexpected venue called The Sugar Space. It's a bare-bones theater that allows the company a chance to have a bit of a stage.

It's not ideal (the lighting is a touch dim, even for a ghost story), but I was happy to see them move out of the Disabled American Veterans Center into something a bit more legit.

And, just like last time, the performances were worth the hunt to find the theater. UTAC is doing the adaptation of the Henry James novella, "The Turn of the Screw," a good old-fashioned ghost story. It's about a wide-eyed governess who, under peculiar circumstances, ventures out to handle the care of two young children — Miles, a precocious young boy; and his sister, Flora, who has not spoken in years.

The governess soon becomes obsessed with apparitions she sees in the garden and on the rooftop — images of the previous caretakers.

As with any good ghost story, not all questions are answered. Do the ghosts really exist or are they a figment of her imagination?

Jeffrey Hatcher, who did the adaptation, relies heavily on imagination. The set is minimal — one chair. The costumes — all black. The rest is up to interpretation.

But Hatcher did a great job leaving in plenty of description to help paint the ghostly images.

None of that would work, however, if Cassandra Stokes-Wylie and Jeremy W. Chase didn't handle the material with clarity. Stokes-Wylie is the governess and also narrates the story. Though a few times her frightened words all came out at the same pace and pitch, she was warm, engaging and very believable as the concerned governess.

Chase plays the rest of the characters: the Master, the housekeeper and the young Miles. He had clear characterizations and vocal inflections for each character — a warm concerned smile as the housekeeper, and a creepy glossy-eyed gaze as Miles.

Chase and Stokes-Wylie played off each other very well. And director Lane Richins kept the pacing clipping along.

"The Turn of the Screw" is a great start to the Halloween season and worth the journey into the surprise theater-in-the-rough.

e-mail: ehansen@desnews.com