"The Chess Player reveals Stefan Zweig at the height of his powers, with a perfect narrative structure and style. The subject matter, powerfully anchored in the appalling context of Nazism, is terribly topical.
"The Chess Player reveals Stefan Zweig at the height of his powers, with a perfect narrative structure and style. The subject matter, powerfully anchored in the appalling context of Nazism, proves terribly topical. Finally, the philosophical content, both humanistic and desperate, offers several levels of reading. The strength of The Chess Player lies in the portraits Stefan Zweig paints of emblematic, even allegorical characters. And the place that Zweig himself, author and narrator, occupies within the story, allows for the elaboration of a narrative in abyss, where the interferences between the game of chess, the game of writing and the game of manipulating the reader give the work power and suspense.
To stage Le Joueur d'échecs was above all to ensure that the characters fully suggested the tension and latent horror of the madness." Yves Kerboul
By Stefan Zweig, translated by Jacqueline Desgouttes, adapted and performed by André Salzet, directed by Yves Kerboul.
Produced by Théâtre Carpe Diem/Argenteuil, with the support of the City of Argenteuil and the Conseil départemental du Val d'Oise.