The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Emilia Blossom Ostroumoff (Flora) and Phoenix Matthews (Miles)

Phoenix Matthews (Miles) and Elgan Llŷr Thomas (Peter Quint)

Isabelle Peters (Governess) and Phoenix Matthews (Miles)

Elgan Llŷr Thomas (Peter Quint) and Isabelle Peters (Governess)

Emilia Blossom Ostroumoff (Flora)

By Eleanor Knight, 27 March 2026

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“Bassem Akiki gives Britten's seductive and unsettling score an extra twist of cruelty.”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House: Linbury Theatre, London on 26 March 2026

Britten, The Turn of the Screw

The Royal Opera

Bassem Akiki, Conductor

Natalie Abrahami, Director

Michael Levine, Set Designer

Hannah Clark, Costume Designer

Guy Hoare, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Duncan McLean, Video

Isabelle Peters, Governess

Elgan Llŷr Thomas, Peter Quint, The Prologue

Claire Barnett-Jones, Mrs Grose

Kate Royal, Miss Jessel

Emilia Blossom Ostroumoff, Flora

Phoenix Matthews, Miles

Anna Morrissey, Choreography

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Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.

Darkness and denial: The Turn of the Screw at the Royal Opera House