The Turn of the Screw (opera) The Turn of the Screw (opera) The Turn of the Screw is a 20th-century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James. The opera was commissioned by the Venice Biennale and given its world premiere on 14 September 1954, at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice. The original recording was made during that year, with the
The Turn of the Screw (2009 film) America. The BBC had previously adapted several horror stories as Christmas films, with their series "A Ghost Story for Christmas" including adaptations of the M. R. James stories "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" (filmed as "The Stalls of Barchester"), "A Warning to the Curious", "Lost Hearts", "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" and "The Ash Tree". "The Turn of the Screw" fits into this "mini-genre" of the Christmas horror film. The BBC executive and drama commissioner Ben Stephenson, discussing "The Turn of the Screw", said that "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front