National Youth Music Theatre – Chess

The cast of NYMT’s production of Chess at Leicester Curve. Picture: Tom Wren

Chess, performed by National Youth Music Theatre, continues at Leicester Curve until 13 August 2022.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Following hot on the heels of last week’s Drury Lane concert production, another variation of the musical Chess is being performed at Leicester’s Curve theatre this week by the National Youth Music Theatre company. Made up of young performers ranging from 15 to 23, the company is giving their interpretation of the legendary musical in the intimate Studio space, but the production is far from small, boasting a large ensemble cast, a full orchestra, and a whole lot of shining young talent.

The familiar plot remains, with the political struggles between America and the Soviet Union in the 1980s juxtaposed with the romantic entanglements of two champion chess players in the middle of a world tournament.  The synth-rock score by ABBA legends Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson also remains largely unchanged, and in its entirety. But in aiming to try and say something new, director Alex Sutton has made the bold choice of gender-swapping the historically male character of Freddie into a female. This changes little in the way of story, other than giving the musical a new queer spin regarding Freddie’s relationship with Florence, but it’s a move that pays off, proving that what Stephen Sondheim said about musicals was true; they’re not written, they’re re-written.

Gender-swapping Freddie spins the character’s songs in a new direction, filling them with a fierce feminine strength, and allowing the kind of power-belting that musical theatre fans love. A few of the lyric changes are somewhat clunky in order to fit the new character dynamic, and make an already complex narrative even harder to follow (in that it’s now not always easy to understand which “she” is being sung about), but on the whole the move is a success, as is the show overall.

It’s a long show, but Sutton keeps it on track with a good momentum, and ensures it’s always interesting to look at, helped by Andrew Exeter’s set and lighting, a stark and striking canvas of greys, blacks and white, broken up vividly by occasional colour. Choreography by Adam Haigh is also excellent, with the chess games staged as ballet and fighting sequences particularly effective.

Chess is by no means an easy musical for young performers to take on, and for it to even sound half as good as it does would be a decent achievement, but these NYMT performers go beyond that and manage to deliver on a near-professional level that belies their age.

It shines a very promising light on the future of musical theatre talent in this country, and imagining there could be future Valjeans, Phantoms, Elphabas and Fantines on that stage is a really exciting prospect.

AJ Parsons is fantastic as Anatoly, with a rich warm tone to his vocals and sounding just as good in the softer higher notes as he does when he’s belting. Act I closer ’Anthem’ (surely one of the greatest act-closing songs ever written) shows his versatility brilliantly and he surely has great things ahead of him.

Tilly Ducker also makes a great Florence, equal parts feistiness and heartbreak, and sounding strong in both her solos and the worldwide smash hit duet ‘I Know Him So Well’ (partnering with Naomi Leigh as Svetlana, also excellent and standing out in a smaller role, especially her torch song ‘Someone Else’s Story’).

Gender-swapping Freddie Trumper is a really interesting take which pays off, and Lois Mia Chapman performs the role brilliantly, giving the songs an injection of female empowerment and showing off a great voice. ‘One Night in Bangkok’ perhaps doesn’t work quite as well as it should, but through no fault of Chapman’s, who remains captivating throughout.

Also gender-swapped is the Arbiter, played here by Georgie Lagden, keeping the plot moving with clear and engaging delivery, and also sounding great in her eponymous number. Special mention must also go to Spike Maxwell (Molokov) and Raf Goold (Walter De Courcey) as the political villains of the piece pulling the strings behind the scenes, making a great team and showing real promise as actors.

It’s not just the performers who are talented either, with a strong orchestra of young musicians lead by musical director Jordan Li-Smith, who bring the score to life and let the notes. The choir also does a thrilling job of adding real weight and power to the darker elements of the score, and gives it real depth.

The production may be a little rough around the edges with a few lighting and sound issues, and not all of the vocals quite hit the mark, but overall the NYMT has done a fantastic job here. A 36-year-old musical performed in a studio space by young adults just starting out on their journey really shouldn’t be this good. Bold and stirring with a modern spin, this is a chance to not only watch a great interpretation of a classic, but to glimpse into the future of British theatre as well, a future which is looking bright.

Rob Bartley