Pelagia Pamel: My name is Pelagia Pamel, and I am singing the role of the Governess.
Tiara Abraham: My name is Tiara Abraham and I'll be singing Miles in Turn of the Screw.
Aaron Cain: This is an opera where so much of what the plot is about is trying to figure out what the plot is. What's that like working on that together in this production?
Pelagia Pamel: Something that our director, Michael Shell, told us at our first table read, he said that situations like this, in the Victorian era, were handled in a way where the more you don't know, the worse it could be. We've sort of tried to allow ourselves the ambiguity at certain points of the opera.
Tiara Abraham: The main thing, you know, with the libretto is like how Pelagia mentioned the ambiguity. And we're just really trying to play into that. We don't know if the ghosts are real or if it's a figment of the Governess's imagination, but we really try to play into that. And it's really interesting to see how Miles perceives himself and also, you know, his relation with the governess. It's been fun to kind of just play with that and kind of leave it up to the audience to decide also.
Aaron Cain: There's a lot of ways to spoil the plot of this opera for people who have not seen it. One is to say what really happens in this opera, and that is something that both in James’s novella and in Britten’s opera they didn't take a stand on. Does this production take a stand on that? What really is happening? Have you been told? You been prompted? Have you been sworn to secrecy?
Pelagia Pamel: [laughs] Well, there is quite a twist that is being put on the show, but it's in such a tasteful way that really doesn't interrupt the through line of the plot. It visits us at the beginning and it’s sort of sprinkled throughout, and then at the very end, there's this sort of, “Oh…wait, what?” moment that I can't wait…
Tiara Abraham: …Yeah…
Pelagia Pamel: … for audiences to see. One of the first questions was, are the ghosts real? Are they really there? And is that even a consistent thing? Are they there in one scene, but then maybe later on it's something that the governess is imagining? And I think we, for the most, part settled that the ghosts are there. I mean, Miles is actively reacting to Peter Quint. Flora as well, with Miss Jessel. At the very end, I mean, there's sort of this struggle between the Governess, seeing Peter Quint, knowing for herself that Miles can see him, and trying to prove that he's there. And so it sort of transitions into this proving theme, I guess.
Tiara Abraham: And I think also Miles is aware of the Governess’s paranoia. So he kind of maybe plays into that. I think that's just also really interesting, the dynamic between Miles and the Governess, how it shifts throughout the opera.
Pelagia Pamel: I think that this piece is one-of-a-kind. I think it's so meticulous in the score. It's so purposeful. And when done with authenticity and just putting 110% in, like how are cast and production team has been doing, it is absolutely phenomenal. It is very difficult, and I think that's why it's not maybe done as often as other operas, and so I'm so excited for audiences to see this because it is a psychological thriller and it's not a piece that is necessarily happy all the time, but it's very relatable and it's very moving. And it's a very real…obviously, we have ghosts in this opera…
Tiara Abraham: [laughs]
Pelagia Pamel: … but some of the concepts, they're just very real. How to deal with some very difficult emotional things. And I think this piece is just a reflection of how music can express emotion, and how music can deal with trauma, and how music can deal with very difficult situations and sort of show how people get through these situations, successfully or unsuccessfully. So I'm just really excited to see it really come to life because the work that this cast and production team has put into it, I think it's really going to be a great success.
Aaron Cain: Pelagia Pamel and Tiara Abraham, thank you so much for speaking with me today.
Tiara Abraham: Thank you for having us.
Pelagia Pamel: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Aaron Cain: IU Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater presents The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten this weekend, Friday and Saturday night, March 7th and 8th at 7:30, at the Musical Arts Center. I've been speaking with the performers playing the Governess and Miles in Saturday night’s show: Sopranos Pelagia Pamel and Tiara Abraham. More information at operaballet-dot-indiana-dot-e-d-u. For WFIU Arts, I'm Aaron Cain.
