Since its establishment in 2014, the Hayes Theatre Co has been an invaluable addition to Sydney’s musical theatre scene, with directors and designers seizing the opportunity to stage shows in fresh, inventive ways in the intimate 111-seat venue.

Next month, the Hayes will stage its first opera – Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw – produced and directed by Craig Baldwin.

Sophie Salvesani and Kanen Breen. Photo © Maryna Rothe

As a teenager, Baldwin studied classical singing and composition, and considered applying to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Instead, he moved to the US where he graduated from the theatre program at The Juilliard School. After working in the US for two decades, he returned to Australia where his directing credits include Consent, John and The Flick for Outhouse Theatre Co and Happy Days starring Belinda Giblin at Sydney’s tiny Old Fitz Theatre.

“As a director, I’ve worked on musicals but never gone back to opera, and it just felt like a perfect opportunity,” he says.

Britten’s chamber opera features a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based...