This is the page for the live events we ran in August 2024 for the anniversaries of A Game at Chess – if you’re looking for information about the play in a more general sense, go to our A Game at Chess page. A full playlist of recordings from the day is available.

2024 was the 400th Anniversary of the original staging in 1624 of A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton – his last work for the stage. To celebrate the scandal of the event, we produced a number of events with as wide an access as we could manage.

It all kicked off with the launch of a book on Middleton, which we were a minor part of. On Tuesday 23rd April at 7pm we ran an online discussion, later edited for the podcast. Discussing: The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton celebrated the publication of The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton, 1624-2024 – Featuring William David Green, Anna L. Hegland, Sam Jermy, and host Robert Crighton.

Because the original production by the King’s Men was performed for a long run at the Globe, we decided to mark all of the anniversaries of those performances. We extended our normal zoom exploring sessions (play readings) into the summer, with a series of anniversary readings of A Game at Chess. We aimed for at least nine sessions exploring the play, on each of the days it first appeared (5th August onwards – some people prefer the 6th as the start date, but we don’t agree. So there). These video readings were then released on the days of the week that would have approximately matched the original performances (15th August onwards), to account for the change in the early modern to modern calendar. So, we kinda marked the anniversaries… twice! We didn’t quite manage to mark all the anniversaries on zoom – there weren’t enough readers for Day 5 – but luckily we were rehearsing the play separately, so we did manage to hit all the anniversaries in the end!

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 – break – Day 4, Day 5 (audio), Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9.

At the same time as reading the show on zoom (quite literally, there was a reading on zoom at the same time as we ran the play on Sunday 11th August) we also produced a pop up Middleton festival, Middleton’s Endgame: A Game at Chess LIVE!, at The White Bear in Kennington, featuring a live performance of A Game at Chess, discussions of the play, a look at Middleton’s last public work, the 1626 Lord Mayor’s show, and other selections of writing from across his life. As the blurb said: “A Game at Chess, a play featuring chess pieces in a cold war one side against the other, was performed nine times in a row in 1624, a scandalous event that ended his career. Beyond will be recording the play live for the podcast, as well as other works and material from the end of Middleton’s career. With expert discussion, and even a whole Lord Mayor’s Show, this is not to be missed.” And it really wasn’t.

The show was seven hours long and aimed to give all of the angles of the play a good going over. We rehearsed the text of the show variously on zoom, either by producer Robert Crighton or by text coach Liza Graham. Then on Saturday 10th we had one big in-person rehearsal – for which the audio run of the play can be heard on our patreon. The show started with a 45 minute introduction Setting up the Board, which delivered an overview of Thomas Middleton in the 1620’s, and the theatrical context for the play. With readings of some of the sources, letters, and gossip behind the political theatre of the time. The board set, at 2pm, upon the anniversary, we performed a largely uncut audio version of A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton. We even got some laughs at the ‘topical’ stuff, thanks to our introduction.

After a break, we held our first panel, King’s Gambit, a look into the aftermath of the scandal of A Game at Chess and the Court’s response to it. The panel were Professor Tracey Hill, Dr Will Green and Daniel Yabut (biographies below). Having cleared Middleton’s last stage play, we then performed his last performed piece, the Lord Mayor’s Show 1626, with an introduction by Professor Tracey Hill. And finally, we closed with Middleton’s Endgame, a panel discussion about everything that the day covered, with additional guest of Keith Hill, who performed the Black Knight.

The Company for A Game at Chess were…

Alexandra Kataigida – Black Queen’s Pawn
Ailbhe Casey – White Queen’s Pawn
Roel Fox – Black Bishop’s Pawn / A White Pawn
Robert Crighton – Black Knight’s Pawn
Keith Hill – Ignatius Loyola / Black Knight
Susan Kyd – Error / White King’s Pawn
Simon Nader – Black Bishop / White Duke
Liza Graham – Fat Bishop
Daniel Yabut – White King / Second Black Pawn
Gillian Horgan – Prologue / White Queen / Fat Bishop’s Pawn
Kit McGuire – White Knight / Black Jesting Pawn
Sojourner Hazelwood-Connell – White Bishop’s Pawn
Connor Robert-Brown – Black King
Valentina Vinci – Black Queen

Ailbhe Casey – White Queen’s Pawn – is an Irish actor, singer, songwriter and musician. She trained in Musical Theatre in Walnut Hill Performing Arts Boston, graduated with a BA in Commercial Modern Music from BIMM and Percussion, Voice and Musicianship from the Royal Irish Academy of Music. TV work: BBC’s Primeval, RTE’s Who Are You Kidding? and Ballyboy. Stage: Fame, Bye Bye Birdie, Spring Awakening, Totally Over You and A Little Heart. Ailbhe teaches at the Gaiety School of Acting and runs professional performance workshops under ACPA.

Connor Robert-Brown – Black King, also performed in Setting Up the Board – Connor trained at Birmingham School of Speech & Drama. After a 12 year “break” he has recently returned to the acting world. This is his first engagement of an unperson presented work with Beyond Shakespeare and is very grateful to Robert for the opportunity. He sincerely hopes you enjoy exploring this rarely performed and unusual play today.

Robert Crighton – Black Knight’s Pawn & event host, so in everything… sorry – is a multi award-winning playwright, performer, storyteller and theatre maker. Based in the wilds of Suffolk, he explores strange old worlds and old civilisations as founder of Beyond Shakespeare.

Alexandra Kataigida – Black Queen’s Pawn, also performed in Setting Up the Board and 1626 Lord Mayor’s Show – Previous work with Beyond includes: Clytemnestra in “the Tragedy of Iphigenia”, Alice in “Arden of Faversham”, Cloanthus in “Dido, Queen of Carthage”, and Sacrapant in “The Old Wives’ Tale” (2023 Winter Revels), along with repeat appearances as Thomas Middleton in our yearly Lord Mayor’s Show recreations.

Roel Fox – Black Bishop’s Pawn / A White Pawn & Composer of the Music – Roel Fox is an Amsterdam born Actor-Musician who has also worked as Stage Manager, Technical Operator, Director, Music Director, Assistant Director, Movement Director, Writer, Composer, Singing Teacher and Lighting Designer. For Beyond he has performed in our Revels 2023 season, as well as composing much of the music.

Liza Graham – Fat Bishop & Company Text Coach, also performed in Setting Up the Board & 1626 Lord Mayor’s Show – has a long history of working with grassroots Shakespeare companies including Cream-Faced Loons, Sirrah Sisters, Scaffold Shakespeare Company, Scrawny Cat and The Show Must Go Online. Recently she directed The Old Wives’ Tale by George Peele for Beyond’s Winter Revels 2023. Operatic roles include Omniscient Seashell Aegyptische Helena, Arnalta & Nutrice Poppea, Mrs Sedley Peter Grimes, and Cesare Giulio Cesare.

Daniel Yabut – White King / Second Black Pawn, also performed in Setting Up the Board and panels – see panellists (back panel)

Sojourner Hazelwood-Connell – White Bishop’s Pawn, also performed in Setting Up the Board – Sojourner is looking forward to returning with the Beyond team after the Revels Festival. Sojourner trained at Drama Centre and continues to be a fanthey to one of Middleton’s contemporaries.

Keith Hill – Ignatius Loyola / Black Knight, also performed in Setting Up the Board, King’s Gambit & panel – is a survivor of last year’s Beyond Winter Revels, and also has a career covering audiobooks (of which he’d like to do a LOT more, hint, hint) film, audio drama and rep and touring theatre with an early modern element.

Gillian Horgan – Prologue / Fat Bishop’s Pawn / White Queen, also performed in Setting Up the Board & King’s Gambit – is from Cork, and trained at Drama Studio London. Theatre credits include: MacSwiney (Etcetera Theatre), She Moved Through the Fair (Kings Place), Sketchley Park (Canal Cafe Theatre), That Mad Little Planet Called Earth (Theatre 503). Screen credits include: Final Girls, The Widow, Reveries, Hungry Dogs, Persona Non Grata, and The Wives Did It. Audio credits include: The Sword That Explodes, Bosworth Field, The Bureau of Lost Things, The Tragedy of Mariam, and Sketch, Please!

Susan Kyd – Error / White King’s Pawn – Trained: LAMDA and Ecole Jacques Lecoq. Theatre: Phoenix, Dodo, Butterfly, Carousel ENO, My Fair Lady, Total Eclipse, Playhouse Creatures, Noises Off. Film & TV: Taboo, The Crimson Petal and the White, Allo Allo, Inspector Morse, Up the Garden Path. Dance with a Stranger. Audio: Dr Who, Red Dwarf.

Kit McGuire – White Knight / Black Jesting Pawn, also performed in Setting Up the Board – is an actor and writer. Previously with the Beyond Podcast, Kit has appeared in The Fall of Richard II, Dido Queen of Carthage, Arden of Faversham, Cleopatra, Old Wives Tale, and the Battle of Bosworth Field. Other theatre credits include Surrogates (WWWC), Bard in the Yard (Will and Co.), and Romeo and Juliet (Fred Theatre).

Simon Nader – Black Bishop / White Duke, also performed in Setting Up the Board and 1626 Lord Mayor’s Show – is an actor, writer and director. He won The Stage Scholarship for acting training at The Academy Drama School, with a degree in English and Drama from Queen Mary College, London. Television: Silent Witness; NBC’s Dracula; Houdini, Strike Back, The Last Kingdom and The Terror. Film: Glamour and The Dead Inside. Stage: Escape From the Planet of the Day That Time Forgot and as writer/performer: How To Bond With Your Dad When He’s Bad. Also, Radio 4 play The Chess Girls. Tutor for The Gaiety School of Acting, Ireland’s National Theatre School.

Valentina Vinci – Black Queen, also performed in Setting Up the Board – is an International Actor, Voiceover Artist, and Technician based in London UK. She has appeared in shows touring Italy, the UK, Mexico, and South Korea and has consistently worked across the fields for the past 10 years. Regular collaborator with GraphicAudio, and Shake-Scene Shakespeare.

The Panel were…

Tracey Hill – Professor Emerita of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Bath Spa University. Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Specialist in the pageantry and entertainments of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century City of London. Currently editor-in-chief of the Records of Early English Drama collection, Civic London, 1558-1642. Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Founders. Author of two monographs – Anthony Munday and Civic Culture (Manchester University Press 2004) and Pageantry and Power: a cultural history of the early modern Lord Mayor’s Show (Manchester University Press 2010; winner of the David Bevington Prize) – as well as a number of book chapters and journal articles. Also a Director of Larkhall Athletic FC. 

Will Green – is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Nottingham. He received his PhD from the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute in 2021, and his work has appeared in journals including Exchanges, Theatre Notebook, and Critical Survey. Recently, he served as the lead editor on the essay collection The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton, 1624-2024 (alongside Anna Hegland and Sam Jermy), and he is currently completing his first solo-authored book on Middleton’s drama during the 1620s, which will be published by Routledge on 2025.

Daniel Yabut – Training: LAMDA, Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique. Theatre: Chicken (Trafalgar Studios), Epidemic (Old Vic), As You Like It (White Bear). Film: Rush Hour 3, Roll Bounce. Television: Party Down. Publications: chapters in The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton, 1624–2024 (Routledge); Early Modern Performance Beyond the Public Stage (Arden, forthcoming). Managing Editor of Cahiers Élisabéthains.

Keith Hill – see above – also joined the final panel to discuss acting in the play.

Special Thanks to: Michael Kingsbury at the White Bear Theatre, everyone behind the scenes there, and the wonderful pub downstairs. We’d also like to thank everyone who has contributed to our work on A Game at Chess online over the last five years: including Sarah Blake, Alan Scott, William Sutton, Liz Hill, Helen Good, Ruth Evans, Alexandra Kataigida, Veronica Cappelli, Alexandra Kataigida, Pamela Flanagan, Lynsey Beauchamp, Daniel Yabut, Gregory Musson, Eric Karoulla, Lynn Freitas, Emma Kemp, Liza Graham, Tom Helsby, Elizabeth Amisu, Rachael Nicole, Briony Sparrow, Anna L. Hegland, Sam Jermy, Olga Blagodatskikh, Allison Pajor, Mark Pajor, David Skidmore, Rachel Warburton, Lalitte Stolper, Stephen Longstaffe, Amelia John, Donald Anderson, and Nora J. Williams.

There will be others we have missed, apologies if we have done so, give us a buzz to correct.

We’d also like to thank all our patrons, who voted for us to do this play. If there’s a play you want us to do, join our patreon!

Events List for 2024

23rd April at 7pm – Discussing: The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton – an online event celebrating the publication of The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton, 1624-2024 – Featuring William David Green, Anna L. Hegland, Sam Jermy, and host Robert Crighton. Running online via zoom on Tuesday 23rd April, it has now been edited for the podcast.

From 5th August – Nine Chess Games – 5th to 14th August at 2pm BST

11th August – Middleton’s Endgame: A Game at Chess at 400 at The White Bear, Kennington.

15th August – Recordings of the Nine Chess Games released daily on YouTube

From August 2025 – A Game at Chess – A Full Cast Audio Recording on the podcast, plus all the other recordings from the live show (see playlist below).

Playlists – explorations of the text on the pod and YouTube