Chess

Not an easy show to put on, but this production team certainly set and achieved very high standards. There was excellent direction from Nigel with plenty of movement on stage yet maintaining the intensity of the story and the individual characters throughout the performance. James was fully in control of the music with great interpretation and a very sympathetic orchestral accompaniment which enabled the voices to be heard at all times. A very good set of principals, Lynnette Stevenson (Florence), Grant Walker (Anatoly), Phil Deakin (Frederick) and Kellie Pearson (Svetlana) all gave super vocal and dramatic performances establishing their characters from the start. Likewise there were also very good performances from Martin Mold (Walter), Kevin Riley (Arbiter) and Mike Seed (a very Russian Alexander!). The chorus was in excellent voice with great choral singing, including the mini ensemble, while the choreography and dancing was to the now expected very high standard. The costumes fitted the period well as did the props. The set was very simple but effective and well thought out, while the lighting certainly added to the visual effect. It was evident that a lot of dedication and hard work had gone into the preparation by the production team and performers alike, they should all be proud of the end result.

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