Chess - Union Theatre Production

[Whileshesleeps]

Anyone going to see this production this week?
Would be fascinated to see what they've done with this staging wise in such a small venue with a cast of 16.

[bob8rich]

I'm going next Wednesday (20th). Can't wait! Been hearing amazing things about it.

[FrontRowDress]

Saw this last night and Sarah Galbraith is phenomenal as Florence. In fact all the female leads are incredible, especially Gillian Kirkpatrick as the newly female Molokova. They are let down a little by a couple of their male counterparts, but still a fine production at the constantly over achieving Union. Full report on the blog as usual.
Chess

[bob8rich]

Saw Chess last night - and it was stunning. The opening is very powerful and helps very much with tying the political and personal sub-text in with the plotline of the Chess matches (won't say more as do not want to spoil for anyone who has not yet seen it). The staging was superb and perfectly paced - with brilliant use of the 16 strong cast. Great performances, especially Natasha Barnes (whose Someone Else's Story was a genuine "goosebumps" performance) and the seriously amazing Sarah Galbraith - I doubt I will see a better leading lady performance on any stage anywhere in 2013.

[Whileshesleeps]

Saw Chess at the weekend. Very impressed how such a small company and group of musicians made such impact.The problems all large scale past productions have faced has been there is little to like about any of the main characters. The Union's intimacy means you see every tiny move or facial expression. The leads all did a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life.
Special recognition must go to the directors and musical arranger, who whilst keeping all the songs from the 1986 version in tact, by making small musical cuts here and there and linking one scene effortlessly flowing into one another both acts seem to have much to keep the audiences attention and the first act whilst 70 minutes seems to move by quickly.
Sarah Galbraith as Florence is the absolute star of the show and has such presence on stage and is vocally stunning.She is ably supported by the other leads, but it has to be said it is the female leads who really shine the most.Gillian Kirkpatrick transforms the Molokov(a)character fantastically giving the role more comedy as well as sinister presence.
This production has made significant improvements to this complex show. With a bigger budget for sets and costumes the production could be used as the template something more significant to transfer to the West End.

[Phantom of London]

I saw Chess tonight and enjoyed the show. The performances were generally on the strong side. The lyrics must be some of the best written in musical history.

However saying that having a female Molokov seem plausible but not really inspired and really served to highlight one of the problems with 'Chess' as a piece in general and that the book doesn't have a central protagonist.

I also think this production would of been better served in a bigger venue and lets not be hasty and rule that out already.

[Whileshesleeps]

Had the pleasure of seeing this production again on Sunday. The cast had really developed from seeing one of the previews.
Never seen such a small production deliver so much. A truly stunning cast.Vocally stunning.
Interestingly there were several seats all labelled "reserved". Not sure why.
Fingers crossed something good will happen with a possible est end transfers to a smallish theatre.