“Smoke & mirrors,” by Nathan C. Stewart

“Smoke & mirrors,” by Nathan C. Stewart

This year’s Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, featured a world-debut production of Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera The Turn of the Screw, headed up by Rodula Gaitanou (stage direction), Yannis Thavoris (scenic and costume design), and Paul Hackenmueller (lighting design). The work is perfect for a small space—here, the historic Dock Street Theatre—and for limited personnel (six singers, thirteen instruments). The opera is an adapt…