This highly acclaimed, much loved Tim Rice musical epic CHESS returns to Napier in 2018
27 July – 11 August 2018
Written in 1984 by ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Lion King, Evita), Chess tells a story of love and political intrigue, set against the background of the Cold War in the late 1970s/early 1980s, in which superpowers attempt to manipulate an international chess championship for political ends.
Two of the world’s greatest chess masters, one American, one Russian, are in danger of becoming the pawns of their governments as their battle for the world title gets under way. Simultaneously their lives are thrown into further confusion by a Hungarian refugee, a remarkable woman who becomes the centre of their emotional triangle. This mirrors the heightened passions of the political struggles that threaten to destroy lives and loves. Includes the international hit singles ‘I Know Him So Well’ and ‘One Night In Bangkok’. Other well-known songs from the score include ‘Anthem’, ‘Someone Else’s Story’, ‘Heaven Help my Heart’ and ‘Pity The Child’
Tickets on sale 5pm Friday 25 May!
| Director | Sarah Rogers | Musical Direction | David Selfe |
| Choreographer | Nathan Wright | Production Manager | Donna Briggs |
| Leads | |||
| Anatoly | Andrew Hodgson | Freddie | Jeff Foley |
| Svetlana | Tracy Van der Zwet | Florence | Kayleigh Purvis |
| Molokov | Gerard Cook | The Arbiter | Rupert Davison |
| Walter | Spencer Bethell | ||
| Ensemble | |||
| Emma Aiken | Rachel Carson | Glenn Cook | Sarah Eriksen |
| Amberley Gibson | Paris Good | Alby Hailes | Danica Hensel-Ondrusova |
| Olly Jarden | Sarah McGill | Sally McQuarry | Rachael McKinnon |
| Ilaria Levick | Hannah Ludlow | Bruin Maunder | Robyn O’Hagan |
| Amy Pepper | Louise Pattison | Penina Ria | Kelly Wardle |
| James Wright | Nathan Wright |