Chess is used as a metaphor for romantic rivalries and the US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War. The main characters form a love triangle: the ill-mannered American Grandmaster, the intense Russian champion who plans on defecting to the West, and the Hungarian-American female chess second, who arrives at the International Championships with the American but falls in love with the Russian. From Bangkok to Budapest, the players, lovers, politicians, and spies all struggle to get the upper-hand.
The DMTC archive 2022
Durham Musical Theatre Company
CHESS - the Musical
202229th March – 2nd April 2022Gala Theatre
Explore the programme Back in the spotlight
About the show.

Behind the scenes
The production team.
On stage
Cast & company.
Principals / cast
- Frederick Trumper
- Steven Berry
- Florence Vassy
- Pascalle Rossle
- Walter de Courcey
- Ed Turner
- Anatoly Sergievsky
- Graeme Walton
- Svetlana Sergievskaya
- Katy Walton
- Alexander Molokov
- Anthony Smith
- The Arbiter
- Michael Taphouse
- Female Chorus Principals
- Izzy Chazot & Rebecca Hassell
- Male Chorus Principals
- Chris Coates · Mike Langthorne · Steve Norman · Nicky Tones & Chris Carr
DMTCCHESS - the Musical2022 · Programme
Turn back the pages
The original programme.
Meet the people, revisit the production and explore the programme as it appeared at the time.










































































































































































































