Chess is a beautiful piece of music, but I’ve always found it quite dull to watch on the stage. London got away with it, as it had the video screens, which gave the audience something to watch and also information about the games and the players. It’s unlikely that any other production will ever have this capability, so I had to find a way to make the piece more interesting. I was also very anxious to try and find a way of showing the progression of time. It thus became an obvious solution to use Chess as underscoring for various sub scenes that would not only show the passing of time, but also the developments within the relationships. It may be nice, if rewrites were possible, to do the sub scenes as sung pieces, such as ‘Argument’ or ‘Florence Quits’, but in its current form the sub scenes are just small clips of dialogue that encapsulate the current state of each relationship.
I really like the idea of the kiss being the final moment of act one. The image of the two potential lovers embraced in a passionate kiss seems a fitting end to a sequence of scenes in which various chess and human pieces have been moved, sacrificed and lost.
ACT TWO
Bangkok Intro
I quite like the idea of seeing a mysterious woman arriving in the middle of the night in Bangkok. There has been no mention of who she is, so it would add an element of intrigue. It may not work in reality, but it’s a nice image.
Anthem
I’ve been very bold with this song and not only moved its location, but also changed its meaning. Obviously the words still mean the same, but they are now no longer strictly true. Anatoly probably does feel similarly to the way the words claim he does, but the choice to express this at his own free will has been taken from him, this very fact is actually more likely to make him want to leave Russia. So as the false words are being sung they are actually slowly becoming true! I really like this double meaning within the words, but I’m sure many people will disagree. To me it becomes the perfect example of how Molokov not only controls Anatoly’s movements, but his ‘public’ thoughts too.
I’ve chosen to stage this as part of a Sponsors Black Tie Gala in order to provide some attractive black and white images, but there is also the option of staging it like Chess. In which case the different sub scenes would take place in different locations and the passing of time would once again be easily expressed. I do however like the Gala setting and it would be nice to have a different staging to that of Chess. I also think that having it at the Gala with all the ‘deals’ being proposed one after the other helps to signify the tension that is building up between all those concerned. This in turn makes it a more suitable setting for Florence to suddenly begin to question her own moves and decide to change her strategy.
I Know Him So Well
I don’t want the women to meet while they are singing this song. I’ve always felt it was better for them to be on their own and reflecting on their time with Anatoly. I hope you agree that the set up during The Deal provides them with the foundations for the feelings they are confronting during the song.
Endgame
This song really needs a bit of rewriting, as I now have Freddie and Anatoly playing this final game. I’ve used the original lyrics and given them to different people. It works, but it’s obviously a bit of a compromise. I think you’ll get the idea though and I’m sure you can imagine the basic ideas and thoughts that would be going through everybody’s mind.
You And I
I’ve always felt that this song on its own has never been emotive enough to end the show. The Anthem reprise in London raised the show to a fantastic climax, but in many ways it was a cheat and didn’t really provide the show with a conclusive ending. It made the audience sit up and take notice and it also had the desired effect of making them think they had really enjoyed the entire show. It’s an old trick and one that works extremely well, but I wanted to try and end the story in a more concrete way. The story is inherently full of lose ends, so I thought firstly that maybe it would be an idea to see what all four characters are thinking at this point. Thus I have brought Svetlana and Freddie in to express their thoughts too. All four lives have become entwined in this story, which is now obviously not going to have a happy ending. I then wanted to end the piece on a high, but without using ‘Anthem’. I felt this might be possible by bringing the chorus in to heighten the power. Thus the chorus evoke the thoughts that are whirling around within the heads of the four characters.