YOU COULD see staging Chess The Musical at Droitwich’s Norbury Theatre would have been a massive task – there is so much in it musically, choreography-wise and in the acting.
Director Christopher Newbould – in his inaugural outing in that role – did a sterling job, ably assisted by a very talented cast for this almost three-hour show (with a 20-minute interval).
He said in his programme notes the foundations needed to be provided by the Ensemble and they rose to the occasion. They were fantastic vocally and delivered a multitude of routines as chess fans, judges and even a press pack.
The story centres on the rivalry of American chess champion Frederick Trumper and Anatoly Serfievsky. As well as their battle, there is also the East vs West political divide and a love triangle between those two and Florence.
Kate Green was solid as the Arbiter – a chess referee and narrator, keeping the scenes in order each time she appeared.
Jake Jones and Paul Steele as the chess players’ representatives Walter De Courcey and Alexander Molokov were both brilliant in their roles and when they performed their solo numbers.
Jo Hargreaves as Anatoly’s wife did not appear until the second half but it was well worth the wait when she did take to the stage. Her voice and range was incredible and, in a production where you flit between which character you are rooting for, you really felt for her because of the way Hargreaves played it.
Francis Blincoe portrayed the petulant and arrogant American Frederick Trumper well. You wanted him to ‘pull himself together’ in the first half following his outbursts but then warmed to him when you discovered his difficult upbringing.
David Bradley was excellent as Russian Anatoly who defects, in part for the love of a woman, to the West. He had a real presence on the stage – both through his acting ability and, moreso, through his deep delivery of his solos and halves of duets.
But the performance of the evening went to Amanda Blockley as Florence Vassey. Although chessboards are famous for squares, she finds herself in the love triangle between the two champions. She captured perfectly the emotional rollercoaster her character embarked on and was pitch-perfect all night.
She also enjoyed some fantastic duets with both Bradley and Blincoe but the musical highlight of the evening was her and Hargreaves singing ‘I know Him So Well’. You could hear a pin drop during their rendition and when the last note sounded, it got the biggest cheer and applause of the show.
The second loudest applause came after the walkdown for the orchestra who were as faultless as ever throughout the three hours. There were not many moments of silence in this production and the band kept the action ticking over with incidental music and hit every note when it was called into action for all 37 of these numbers.
The set was simplistic and functional, using two screens well at either side of the stage. Shout-out to the camera operator at this point who provided the pictures of the chess players as they took each other on, the press conferences and interview between Trumper and Sergievsky. He also filmed some of the more dramatic moments for the screen, making them more poignant.
The plot is dominated by struggles – East vs West, America vs Russia, Trumper battling his demons, Sergievsky’s dilemma of where to reside and his and Florence’s conundrums of who they should spend the rest of their lives with.
This show is written by the unlikely combination of Tim Rice and Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from Abba. It is a very dark and intense production – far removed from upbeat chart hits and Waterloo which took the Swedish popsters to Eurovision victory. It probably could have done with a light-hearted sounding ‘Waterloo’ number or two.
Chess runs at the Norbury Theatre until next Saturday, November 1, with shows at 7.30pm from Wednesday to Saturday. Click here for tickets and more information.
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