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A GHOSTLY woman standing in a single shaft of light, playing a haunting tune on a violin, sets the eerie tone of this adaptation of Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw.

Hearkening from the early days of psychological thrillers, the play follows a young 19 th century governess, as she takes on her two new charges, at an isolated country house.

Despite a bizarre condition that she never contacts the children's uncle and guardian about them, and the mystery surrounding her predecessor's death, she begins lessons with the two seemingly angelic kids.

But the naive governess, convincingly played Honeysuckle Weeks, soon discovers that all is not right, and the children are not as innocent as they seem - or are they?

Have the ghosts of Miss Jessal and the infamous Peter Quint, silently played by Loren O'Dair and Joshua Kent, corrupted the children, leading to their "unnatural goodness", or are they a terrible figment of our protagonist's mind?

The play - closely adapted from the 1898 book and directed by Ali Gorton - explores this theme of childhood innocence and gradually sets it against the possibility of deceit and duplicity with a haunting effect and dramatic climax.

The production successfully creates and maintains a sense of suspense on stage using eerie lighting and sound effects, dry ice and the repetition of a plaintive violin.

Although the imagination is a little stretched with two clearly older actors playing the young children, overall the cast - including Helen Weir as the fond old housekeeper - pulls together for an enjoyable Theatreworks production, that is running at the Haymarket until Saturday.

Tickets are available from the box office on 01256 844244.

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