'Chess' Just Isn't Fun Anymore

Good ol’ Soviet intrigue just doesn’t entertain like it used to. In “Chess,” two world-class players at the end of the Cold War find themselves caught within an ever-growing game of politics and trickery, a game that fails to amuse. Though propelled by strong individual singing and the occasional catchy tune, “Chess,” which ran this weekend at the Adams House Pool Theater, never escapes the boring confines of its rigid and outdated black-and-white plot.

The first move is in Bangkok, site of the world chess championship. Freddie Trumper, the loud American champion (Jonathan J. Carpenter ’07) prepares to face his Russian opponent Anatoly Sergievsky (Adam M. Lathram ’10) amid a politically tense atmosphere. Everyone, it seems, is a secret agent—or could be. When Freddie rashly accuses Anatoly of cheating, the game is suspended for negotiations. Meanwhile, Florence Vassy (Morgan L. Mallory ’10), Freddie’s Hungarian-American second, leaves her underappreciated role by Freddie’s side and instead begins a hasty and torrid romance with Anatoly.

Plot twists ensue. Anatoly and Florence leave together for Budapest, where Anatoly faces Freddie once again and Florence revisits her scarring childhood. There are “gasp” moments. Anatoly’s wife Svetlana (Victoria J. Benjamin ’12) decides not to wait idly in Russia while her husband embarks on an affair and instead pays a visit to the couple. Florence’s missing father vacillates between supposedly being alive and being presumed dead faster than you can say, “World Communist Conspiracy.” At one point, it is even implied that he may actually work for the KGB.

This situation, the play reminds us again and again, is not just black-and-white. “Nobody is on nobody’s side,” the cast repeatedly sings. Too bad the audience can foresee the plot’s moves several steps ahead.

A so-called rock musical, “Chess” does not live up to its celebrity creators. Penned by Tim Rice, with music from Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, two former members of Abba, the musical often features an off-key score to lend the songs a foreboding tone. This score does little to compensate for the musical’s flimsy plot. Although the sinister score may give atmosphere to the setting, it does little to enliven the scenes of the musical.

Acoustic problems aggravate the dismal character of most songs. The onstage orchestra dwarfs the ensemble. As a result, melodies are muffled and lyrics are often hard to understand. Slurred diction weighs down the rhythm even in the musical’s most popular song, “One Night in Bangkok.”

Director Sean P. Bala ’09 uses sparse scenery and simple blocking, as he explains in the program, to highlight the more dramatic elements of the story. By adhering to the melodrama of the musical, however, the production cuts out all the fun. Somber movement cumbers the play’s lively moments. At times, the company seems caught in a deadlock of its own—whether to adhere to the musical’s pseudo-serious tone or surrender to its campy underpinnings.

Several members, however, stand out from the ranks. As Molokov, a secret agent and Anatoly’s chess second, Jay D. Musen ’09 reaches registers lower than Siberian temperatures. Vanessa Tantillo entertains as the brassy arbiter who just wants the players to finish the game. But it is Mallory who takes the spotlight. Despite a bland script, she portrays a fully realized Florence. Her singing hits the mark throughout, and her songs, “Heaven Help My Heart” and “I Know Him So Well,” are the most successful pieces of the musical.

As the cast members slide around the checkered stage like pieces on a chessboard, they never make an exciting gambit. Chess may be more than a board game, but this musical is little more than an average college production.