The first thing you notice in Stages Repertory Theatre 's The Turn of the Screw is that designer Kirk Markley has done a bang-up job creating the setting. The geometric platform of dark hardwood flooring, representing a haunted estate, is dominated by an imposing, gracefully curving staircase, backed by tall, Gothic Windows. It's the perfect environment for a thriller. [...] Some may find this Turn of the Screw to be a spine-tingler. [...] The set, however, is an unmitigated triumph.
           -Everett Evans, Houston Chronicle, 10/15/2000.

The story is all devilish innuendo, vapory ghosts, gauzy yellow lights and heavy dark clothes that swish along set Designer Kirk Markley's brooding spiral staircase. It's the best sort of ghost tale: foreboding, mysterious, dangerous and all grown up.
           -Lee Williams, Houston Press, 10/26/2000.

Kirk Markley's set is clean, unobtrusive and gorgeous to look at, capturing the spirit and period of the piece.
           -Joey Berner, Houston's Other, 10/18/2000.

The subtlety and haunting quality of David Gipson's lighting design and Kirk Markley's Victorian conservatory with its arching staircase, immense wall of gothic panes, and blood red columns.
           -D. L. Groover, Houston Voice, 10/20/2000.