The Show Romantic and political rivalries are set against a cold-war background in a story as intricate as the game of Chess itself. The ill-mannered, arrogant American Champion thinks only of himself, whilst his Hungarian- born female second falls in love with his Russian opponent, resulting in a defection to the west. Tim Rice's intelligent lyrics combine with classical and rock scores by Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus (of ABBA fame) to tell the story of players, politicians, lovers and spies competing on and off the chess board in this fascinating story with gutsy songs such as "One Night in Bangkok", "Heaven Help my Heart", "Anthem" and the favourite "I Know Him So Well". Rolling Stock Theatre Company's new production presents an intimate and original view of this much loved musical. The Story of Chess The lyricist and musical theatre legend Tim Rice first thought of writing a musical based on the game of chess in the 1970s whilst still involved in his successful partnership with Andrew Lloyd Webber. He had written the book and lyrics to three ground breaking musicals: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), and Evita (1978). However, the relationship between Tim and Andrew began to sour and by the time Cats opened in 1981, the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber team had finally split. Unattached, Tim went foraging for music collaborators. He soon found Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, the male members of the pop group ABBA. He presented his idea of Chess as a musical to them; Tim would write the book and lyrics while they would write the music. In 1984 the original Chess concept album was released. Tim was very familiar with the strategy of releasing a recording first and then scrounging for a producer to stage it. This had worked very well for Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. The Chess concept album was a great success, scoring chart hits with Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson's duet, 'I Know Him So Well', and Murray Head's 'One Night In Bangkok'. The show opened on stage at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, on 14th May 1986. The Rolling Stock Version As a musical, Chess is probably unique in having no 'definitive' version. Every production to date has sought to re-evaluate and reshape the story in search of a new or varied interpretation. As Tim Rice says in the introduction to the script of the London stage version: "There have been so many alterations to the structure of Chess during its turbulent history that we are reluctant to present any variation of the work to the public as the definitive one". He goes on to exhort those thinking of mounting a production to "not be afraid of making cuts or of changing the order of some of the songs and scenes". Rolling Stock Theatre Company have taken this advice to heart and present a new and unique interpretation of the show; a version which sits somewhere between the 1984 concept album and the original London stage version. Remaining true to the concept album was of great importance; it is, after all, the most popular and familiar of all incarnations of the show. The last words on the subject belong to Tim Rice in the London stage version script: "first thoughts are often best and in many respects I wish we had never changed a note of it!".

An Amateur Production in association with Samuel French Copyright Rolling Stock Theatre Company 2008