Roy Atterbury
Bromley Times
Thursday 2nd December 2004

A Strong White Queen

‘Chess’, West Wickham’s Autumn 2004 production, was accompanied by detailed programme notes: the history of chess down the ages; the collaboration between Tim Rice and Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus - thus leaving no member of the audience ignorant of the ‘great game’. The overall look of the show was good with the patterned chess board stage with the elevation just given by the up-turned corner of the chess board and the majority of the costumes in traditional mono-chrome. Director, Kevin Gauntlett, had used his cast well incorporating more of the chorus than is normal as the news reporters and getting a true feeling of changed venues for example in the mountain restaurant and the consulate through the stage business of the waiters and the consular staff. However the numbers involved did make some of the exits and repositioning e.g. of journalists look somewhat ragged. The inclusion of the ‘news footage’ was also an innovative touch and added verisimilitude to the story line. Musical Director, Peter Dodsworth, had schooled the notoriously difficult numbers well but at times the positioning of the chorus too far back on the stage made it difficult to hear those singers for whom diction was not a strength. This was particularly apparent in the opening number when the chorus were too near the orchestra and at some distance from the apron and could not project sufficiently for this wordy number to be clearly heard. - or it might have been the Churchill sound system again! The Hymn sung a cappella in Act 1 sc 3, however, was good, clear and rich. The decision to place the orchestra at the back of the stage did have an adverse effect on un-mic’d singers. Equally, the placing of the monitors on the proscenium arch was unfortunate as the one on stage right was fully in view from the stalls and it became very obvious when soloists were looking at it for cues. Choreographer, Zoe Ellen, had a mixed talented group of dancers to work with but the routines seemed to catch the mood and style of the show. However, if a ballet routine is to be incorporated all the dancers must be able to follow through all movements to the ends of their fingers and the tips of their toes and this was not always achieved. The simple routines with the chorus in Merano, however, worked very well.

Philip Netscher, The Arbiter, with very pale makeup, opened the show and had the quite difficult task of being the conductor of the chess action but he gained in confidence as the show progressed. Kevin Stuart, Fredrick Trumper, was a brash American whose mood swings were always controlled and calculated and this contrasted well with the more analytical and introspective interpretation of Georg Tormann as Anotoly Sergievsky. Jane Faulkner played Florence Vassy both as a strong white queen and a strong pawn in the various strategic moves of the story whilst Tracy Prizeman, made a care-worn Svetlana Sergievskaya, rather than an intense and equally strong black queen sent by the KGB. Both girls sang well and the evocative and well-known duet, ‘I know Him So Well’, showed quite a good blend of voices. Both Chris Arden, Walter de Courcey and David Hodgson, Alexander Molokov - with a splendid Lenin beard - were remarkably ‘heavy’ in differing ways and their encounters with each other and the other main characters had a nice sharp edge.

The Chorus, as already mentioned, had more to do than is normal in this show and they were evidently enjoying themselves and this communicated itself to the audience. One minor criticism is that the same people whether in Merano or as journalists etc. were always in the front row and it would have been more interesting to see others there at times. The dancing girls made quite a good try at the ‘bumping and grinding’ in ‘One Night in Bangkok’ but many seem uncomfortable in the moves and did not project confidence or truth and the scene would have been far sexier if the lighting had not been so bright. The similar scene for instance in Miss Saigon works because the girls are caught in half-light as well as spotlight. The Lighting in this show was, however, on the whole atmospheric. Stage management was quite slick and the minimal furniture and props appeared quite seemlessly. Sound appears to be a problem in this theatre, or it has been for your last two shows, and Georg Torman did remarkably well trying to synchronise his words with those of the off-stage singer on the Thursday performance when the technical linkup between the two was not accurate. Apparently it was not realised for quite some time that the off stage singer was only heard as a very faint sound by the audience in the duet ‘You and 1’. There was also a problem with the mics in the duet ‘l know Him So Well’ which made the voices sound fuzzy at times.

Some further quibbles are that several costumes were ill-fitting or far too long for the some shorter cast members and this was particularly obvious in Merano and the scene with the girls in city suits; that mobile phones in the 1980’s were rather larger and heavier than those used on stage and that Bhuddist priests would hardly be wearing wedding rings! This is a difficult musical to stage and the society had obviously worked hard and enjoyed performing in what was a good show which was appreciated by the audience at the performance I attended. Thank you for inviting me and particular thanks to John and Julia Stone who kindly met me in the foyer. It was a pleasure to present Graham, on behalf of the Society, with your NODA poster and programme design trophies and to see you all backstage and I look forward to your next production.