CHESS
January 12, 13, 19, and 20, 2007
Produced by Thomas Michael Quinn;
Directed by John Nara;
Choreography by Shannon Thompkins;
Musical Direction by Jon Balcort.
Featuring:
Dani Gottuso, Dana Sovocool, Casey J Ryan, Frank Fiumano, Josh Mele, Brian Pringle, Daniel Bostick, Katja Zarolinski, Ryan MacConnell, Monika Bregande, Alexandra Cormack, Erin Whyland, Heather Buck, David Cotter, Willow Cox, Binaifer N. Dabu, Megan Flanagan, Thomas Green, Udey Hanschu, Brenda Henry, Alisun Hernandez, Greg Hippius, Alexis Jasek, Terry LaCasse, Danielle Lovier, Genarro Parlatto, Gerrit Vaner Werff Jr. and David Witanowski.
Paris, 1941. Pablo Picasso has been summoned from his favorite cafe by German occupation forces to a storage vault across the city for an interrogation. His questioner: Miss Fischer, a beautiful "cultural attache" from Berlin. Her assignment: discover which of the three Picasso paintings recently "confiscated" by the Nazis from their Jewish owners are real. The ministry of propaganda has planned an exhibit, and only the great artist himself can attest to their authenticity. At first Picasso agrees to her request, confirming that the three pictures are indeed his own. But when Miss Fischer reveals that the "exhibition" is actually a burning of "degenerate art," Picasso becomes desperate to save his work and engages in a pressurized negotiation with the equally determined and wily Miss Fischer to hold on to two of his precious "children" while consigning the third to the flames. A cat-and-mouse drama about art, politics, sex and truth, with a twist at its climax.
