Chess and Personal Philosophy

As is true for most great art, the musical Chess, leaves a lot of the interpretation of its themes and story to the viewer. The characters are real enough, and through their songs and lines, fleshed out enough to provide a believable scenario, yet it is not definite what exactly the motivations are for these characters. Certainly, if I was writing a professional piece sufficiently important to bother the performers about it, it would be illuminating to ask Josh, Idina, Adam and Kerry what their characters' thoughts and motivations were when they were singing these parts, but short of that, I am nonetheless beginning to doubt strongly that Tim Rice in his synopsis for the insert adequately and accurately describes the story that was really playing itself out on the stage at the Royal Albert Hall.

I have listened to the entire track-list of Chess in Concert several times in the past 24 hours, and I really can't hear Anatoly as being dishonest in his assertion of his patriotism to 'Mother Russia,' and it is really not surprising when his relationship with Florence sours that he would choose to return to the USSR. Even within the rather cynical, pessimistic idea of the "Nobody's on Nobody's Side" theme, I would have to be either strongly biased against the USSR/ Russia or would have to be in a really bad mood to think Anatoly would reject his homeland so completely for a woman he just met. Florence, meanwhile, seems charmed by Anatoly, but I'm not convinced love has much to do with her running off with him. She is loyal, but not exactly in touch with her feelings, and no wonder when we consider her past. She has a lot she is avoiding, and I get the sense that she is attaching herself as a loyal supporter to great men rather than looking out for herself.

Freddie, bored with chess itself, has been dabbling in manipulation of real people as an outgrowth of his boardgame. Quite plausibly Anatoly, Freddie's match intellectually, recognizes some of this, though he does not catch on that Freddie is allowing Anatoly and Florence to become acquainted to gain a hold on Anatoly, just in case. This, to Freddie, is not a moral or ethical issue, because it is still all just a game. Really, until the Russians try to play Freddie as a piece of their own, Freddie remains emotionally detached from this whole story, a man apart from the events as they unfold, "watching the game" and "controlling it" and fully believing that he can have Florence back whenever he decides he wants to have her again. Just as Freddie is outside the story, Anatoly is not a full participant in the story; he is so content with his chess that he has allowed the Russian government, his wife, his mistress, and everyone else around him play him to their various ends, not all of them nefarious, but none of his actual choosing.

It is debatable even within this interpretation whether Freddie ever really reconnects with humanity. He does, it seems, decide that he would rather have Anatoly win, rather than complete his ruin, but despite his soul-searching, he may be so far gone that there is no hope for him. Perhaps this is why he pushes Anatoly to win, so that he can live vicariously through the newly awakened Russian, who can and does claim his freedom to enjoy his own life on his own terms. Is Freddie a free actor ever?

Interestingly, as far as I can recall, only Anatoly ever says the word 'love' in this production, once about the USSR and once to Florence shortly before their relationship falls apart.