Chess

I saw Chess in Stockholm in January 2003, and I enjoyed it a lot! It is written by Bjrön Ulveaus and Benny Andersson, the guys who were the B and B in ABBA, and who also wrote the famous Swedish musical Kristina From Duvemåla.

The music of Chess is very beautiful and the cast was absolutely terrific!! Seeing well-known Swedish actors Tommy Körberg (who also performed in Chess in London in the mid 1980s!), Helen Sjöholm and Anders Ekborg in the same production was fantastic!!

I like the storyline of the musical very much, because there are no easy decisions to be made, no ultimate solutions and no happy ending! I guess I sound totally pessimistic when I say I like that, but I like it because it is realistic! There are no (or at least very few!) easy decisions in life, there are no ultimate solutions and happy endings are very rare!

I like the ending of Chess, it is totally right for the storyline as well as for the characters. Anatolij wants desperately to get away from his wife and from the corrupt world he is caught in, and meeting Florence has opened his eyes and made him realise there are other things to live for. But he can't give up his son ...

It's nice that the audience are allowed to speculate somewhat around the ending. What really happened afterwards? Did Anatolij go back to his wife and son to live a miserable life, or did he find some way of leaving without giving up his son? And what happened to Florence? Did she wait for Anatolij, did she go back to Freddie, or did she make her own way in life?

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