The Arbiter is one of the more enigmatic characters in Chess, because his portrayal, scripting and back story has been so varied over the rewrites.

The concept album implied little about him other than establishing that he does not take drugs and is not into women- though whether or not that implied that he was a homosexual is up for discussion. The music video showed him as a shirtless man in a designer suit among other camp imagery, and the original descriptions of the character mention that he was intended to be somewhat androgynous.

The London cast, at least by the time Anthony Stewart Head was playing Freddy, had the Arbiter as a VERY flamboyant gay man, though the line referring to his distaste for women had been cut from the show. He minced, pranced and even imitated Michael Jackson in his signature number.

On Broadway, the Arbiter was a completely different character, an African official whose role was made much smaller, despite the character finally having a name and backstory.

Recent concert portrayals have gone for a "dignified but aloof" persona, without the camp and energy of the previous portrayals. By contrast, the Chess Pa Svenska Arbiter is a vaguely ridiculous, over-the-top figure who is both humorous and frightening.

I find it interesting that the issue of sexuality which was originally present in the play, with the Arbiter being ambiguously homosexual and Freddy being repeatedly implied to come off as gay to his observers, was completely written out over the years. Is this streamlining, censorship or just a character evolution? Who knows.

Which versions have you seen? What portrayal of the Arbiter is your favorite?

It's the US Tour that gave the Arbiter his backstory about being from Nigeria. The original Broadway script really gives him no backstory at all. Trevor Nunn cast him as a macho Greek, I believe, and the Nelson script gives him some melodramatic dialogue.

I've always preferred the aloof, androgynous Arbiter myself. It sets him apart from the various romantic complications occurring around him. I think having the Arbiter played by a woman would be an interesting idea, but no "official" productions have done so.

I've seen a high school do it. It was awful. The Arbiter song is a rock baritone's song and if you're gonna have a woman do it, you should change the key and make it a woman's belting song.

I actually prefer when they make the Arbiter either very flamboyant and straight forward, or like they did in Sweden, making him a scary and mysterious figure who you know has issues, but you can't really grasp them! I really liked that he got a bigger part of the Swedish production!

On Broadway, Richard Nelson's note describes the Arbiter (Constantine Stannos) as a "macho Greek" but the published script doesn't give much of a role to the character. On opening night he had a long, somewhat boring and utterly self-involved speech that set him up as a businessman first and foremost. By the time the show ended it was a bit part, with one big speech that was basically played as a tantrum. ("The Arbiter's Song" was cut but is restored in most amateur productions. It remains pointless in context.)

In the 1990 US Tour, he's a dignified Nigerian (Kobe Obe) who can still bust a move as necessary. Not quite sure what they were going for with that one.

The Stockholm character is an over-the-top Frenchman (Jean Jacques van Boren) played for laughs. He switches from French to Swedish without too much rhyme or reason, both in "Jag vill se schack" and "Kvartett."

Pretty much everywhere else he has been played as either British or in the local accent. (The latter wouldn't make sense in an American production, the arbiter of a chess match is pretty much always from a third country.) Relative flamboyance, attitude and even gender are open for directorial interpretation.

The thing is, the Arbiter was supposed to be made into a narrator of the piece, which is why he has a part in "Story of Chess" in London and introduces "The Deal." But it wasn't followed through in any coherent fashion until Sydney, where a few extra breaks of Arbiter guidance (some sung, some not) pulled the concept together fairly strongly. It's one of many choices that London made and didn't follow through on. I think the idea was spot on and if there were a real definitive Chess I'd love to have it be one with the Arbiter as narrator. My personal opinion is that the character should be British - it just suits him better than forcing on an ethnicity that might as well have been picked out of a hat. (Although I'd note that the Arbiter is also a good role for a person of color to be added to the cast.)

we used the arbiter as te shows narrator in our production. our director fien tuned the show using the american and ausstrailian scripts..and used the arbiter to open the show with story of chess, sing most of one night in bangkok and have 2 'arbiter song reprises in the production. it worked amazingly.

Hey all,

First, I have to say that I first heard of the Swedish Arbiter via the sound track (not the stage production) and I was nearly blown away by the re-imagined, techno-slick production of the Arbiter song(s).

In a word: wow. Very well re-imagined, and it brought the song out of 80s pop and into a bit more modern electronica. To me, the production values are a combination of Falco and Bananarama. But in a good way.

So, I went and bought the DVD of the production, and the presentation of the Arbiter on stage was mind-bending! WTF? I had never seen anything like it, and I pondered the notion of this type of bizarre, circus-tent character was a archetype in Swedish and/or Nordic theater, because it "felt" like something that was more bizarre for me than it might have been for the local culture.

I even asked that question on this board, and I was told that, no, there was no real precedent for this type of character in Swedish/Nordic theater.

But... I went and started doing some English translations on his tune (at least the first one...I can't find the lyrics for the reprise -- can anyone else?)... and I found out that there was something up:

He was French.

Many of the lines in his songs are French idioms, and as soon as I realized that, the flagrantism of his performance suddenly "snapped" into something I could get a handle on... most of Europe really, really enjoys lampooning the French. I've traveled a lot around Europe, and I find that they are the most reviled culture in Europe amongst Europeans!

So, could this really be as much as making fun of Frenchisms as it is a comedic relief for an otherwise very drama-centric -- almost depressing -- version of Chess that has ever hit a major production?

And, there was a reason why I was thinking archetype when I first saw the Arbiter performance... because I felt I recognized the meta-character. And only since last night when I found out that he was French did the linkage happen in my brain with another larger-than-life French character (bear with me here):

http://blueprincess.net/collective/zidler/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gj-Ba6-EHc

What do you think? I see a lot of similarities between these two characters (despite the quite different style of musical, of course). But this French, over-the-top, charismatic, almost-cartoonish, circus-ringmaster "ruler over the game" flanked with show-women at every turn.

So, maybe I was right and this is an archetype?

Curious as to your thoughts.

Jon

Below is the translation I developed for the lyrics of the Arbiter song in Chess Pa Svenska. It's been finessed to be an idiomatic translation, with a focus on keeping as much as the meter and rhyme with the original lyrics as possible while translating into English!).

As a result, you can actually kinda-sorta sing along with the Swedish lyrics using the English below! Njoy.

--------------------------
THE ARBITER (a.k.a. "Jean Jacques van Boren")
I was elected to be the Judge Supreme
Who looks for silent consent (French idiom?)
Speech is silver and silence is golden (French idiom?)
Who's accountable? It is me.

I also want to emphasize
If you gather thistles, you'll get pricked (French idiom meaning "if you look for trouble, you'll find it")
I will not tolerate a tournament that is about
politics

I want to see chess
as a noble struggle
without intrigue
or excess
A game inspired by esprit (French for "wit")

CHORUS
Inspired by culture and fantasy

THE ARBITER
I want to see chess
as a gesture
of peace and friendship
between East and West
A game that defies the tyranny of time

THE ARBITER AND CHORUS
and the defeat of mind-numbing... barbarism

CHORUS
As representatives of the judiciary
we see a veteran: Jean Jacques van Boren
Storm masters from (the) Soviet Union
compete with (the) U.S.A.'s champion
for the throne

THE ARBITER
There is a beginning to everything (French idiom?)
I demand discipline
Though there have been times that
an error occurs...
there are no roses without thorns (French)

To judge fairly is my ambition
That's my word to the end (French)
And we compete in a spirit which is
sound and healthy
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I want to see chess
as a noble struggle
without intrigue
or excess
A game inspired by esprit

CHORUS
Inspired by culture and fantasy

THE ARBITER
I want to see chess
as a gesture
of peace and friendship
between East and West
A game that defies the tyranny of time

THE ARBITER and CHORUS
and the defeat of mind-numbing... barbarism

CHORUS
As representatives of the judiciary
We see a veteran: Jean Jacques van Boren
Storm masters from (the) Soviet Union
compete with (the) U.S.A's champion
for the throne

In the London versions, he's the head of the International Chess Federation as well ("The International Chess Federation, of which I have the honor of being president, announces that the next world championship will take place in Merano, Italy" - the announcement after Story of Chess.) That seems to have been lost in most other versions.