Schack by Andersson, Från (2023/2023), Regisserad av Andrea Schwalbach,, Dirigent Andreas Kowalewitz, Staatstheater, Oldenburg, Tyskland

For a long time the topic was considered outdated, but it is now proving to be red hot again: a love in the shadow of the East-West conflict. In 'Chess' – the “grand master of musical shows” (Newsweek) – it is told using the example of two world-class chess players: They fight not only for a personal victory, but also for a world political victory and for the image of their nation, against the press and the secret service and above all a woman. Tim Rice, one of the most prominent musical lyricists of the 20th century, tells how much the protagonists themselves become characters in a game that is as strategic as it is manipulative. Although his idea for the plot came about through the 1972 World Chess Championship, he expressly does not name playing chess per se, but rather “politics and passions” as his source of inspiration.