The Chess Player – Stefan Zweig – Carpe Diem Theatre Company

26 Jan

Place de la Bilange, 49400 Saumur

Adapted from Stefan Zweig’s short story, this one-man show by André Salzet brings to life a tale of resistance and madness.

The actor André Salzet has chosen to adapt this famous short story by the Austrian Jewish writer, humanist and pacifist Stefan Zweig, who found himself at the heart of Europe’s ‘volcanic upheavals’. It was in Brazil, which had become his refuge in August 1941, that he wrote *The Royal Game*, a masterful allegory of bewilderment. The role that Zweig himself – as both author and narrator – plays within the short story allows for the creation of a nested narrative, in which the interplay between the game of chess, the act of writing and the manipulation of the reader lends the work its power and suspense. The actor André Salzet portrays all the characters with exceptional dramatic intensity. During a recent voyage on an ocean liner, the narrator found himself in the company of the world chess champion, Mirko Czentovic. What a stroke of luck for someone who loves eccentric characters to have within sight a champion reputed to be uneducated in other fields, an apparent monomaniac, a real character! A player of what sort of chess? The story takes on the dimensions of a hallucinatory thriller, magnificently brought to life by the staging. Author: Stefan Zweig Director: Yves Kerboul Adaptation and performance: André Salzet PERFORMANCE TIMES: Tuesday 26 January 2027 from 8.30 pm to 9.40 pm.

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Listing provided by SPL SAUMUR VAL DE LOIRE TOURISME (updated by the source on 27/10/2026).

Tourist office data: DATAtourisme, Licence Ouverte (French open licence), updated 28 October 2026.