Chess
Chess is a musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA.
The story involves a romantic triangle between two players in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any specific individuals, the characters’ personalities resemble those of chess grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Bobby Fischer.
Cast & Creative
Cast List
| Character | Actor |
| Florence | Emma Mclean-cook |
| American | Bryan Cardus |
| Russian | Paul Kirkbright |
| Svetlana | Alison Birtle |
| Arbiter | Thomas Butler |
| Molokov | Bob Salter |
| Walter | Jim Simpson |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Anna Colton |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Jan Croxson |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Michelle Fittus |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Fiona Hedger-Gourlay |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Rachel Hughes |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Anna Jones |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Helen Lowe |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Cathy Makepeace |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Deb McDowell |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Gemma Melhuish |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Stephanie Moon |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Claire O’Dell |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Faye Rogers |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Janet Simpson |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Angela Sturgeon |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Denise Truscott |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Claire Ward-Dutton |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Will Brooks |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Mark Burgess |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Tony Cotterill |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Tim Hedger-Gourlay |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Tony Makepeace |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Chris Morris |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | John Nugent |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Andrew Yeates |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Carl Smith |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Douglas Smith |
| Dancers, Pop Choir & Chorus | Jim Trimmer |
Creative Team
| Role | Name |
| Director | Steve Taylor |
| Musical Director | Martin Wilcox |
| Choreographer | Caroline Smith |
| Production Manager | Clare Henderson-Roe |
| Stage Manager | Steve Gillam |
| Lighting | Ed Pagett |
| Sound | Paul Greenhalgh |
| Set designer | Wesley Henderson Roe |
| Costume | Lynne Shirley |
Reviews & Awards
SWAN Awards
- Winner SWAN Award Best Actress in a Musical – Emma Mclean-Cook
- Winner SWAN Award Best Actor in a Musical – Paul Kirkbright
Mark Aspen - Richmond & Twickenham Times
What is the most serious game in the world : an ancient board game, or is it … politics, diplomacy, romance, with all their rivalries and intrigues ? BROS examined this question in last week’s production of Tim Rice’s musical ‘Chess’. Played out against a pulsating score by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, ‘Chess’ is an allegory on Cold War politics and passionate relationships. The story is based loosely on battles in the 1970’s on and off the board of Bobby Fischer and Soviet Grandmasters such as Spassky, Kasparov, and Korchnoi. Two Grandmasters, an American, Freddy Trumper, and a Russian, Anatoly Sergievsky, are used as major pieces in their countries’ power politics and propaganda games. Florence Vassy, a Hungarian refugee, who at the outset is Freddy’s second, falls in love with Anatoly, who then defects to the West. The board is controlled by the manipulations of KGB and CIA officers within the rank and file of the national delegation, who even sacrifice Svetlana, Anatoly’s wife, in a gambit to win him back to the Soviet side.
Click below to read full review.
Show Date: October 2004
Venue: Hampton Hill Theatre
Rehearsal & Show Highlights
