Chess, Queens and Pawns

This post was kindly contributed by cast member Katie Rich.

"Pawn takes Queen"

One of the things I found most interesting in terms of chess and the story of the show was the concept of “promotion” in Chess. Promotion occurs when a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board from where it began. At this point, the pawn may become any other piece on the board. (Many people think that the pawn can only become one of the pieces that has been captured by the opponent, but that is false. It may become any piece.) The most common promotion is for a pawn to become a queen.

In Through the Looking-Glass, the White Queen first appears to Alice as a chess piece in a drawing room, looking for her daughter Lily. If we think in terms of chess, if the White Queen is a queen, then Lily (as her child who could grow into what the White Queen is, as so many children often do) could be seen as a pawn. And with Lily being ever-elusive in the text, the idea of Alice filling that role in the White Queen’s life comes into play.  This is solidified when we see Alice become queen at the end of the play. What was she before? Not a queen…what becomes a queen? A pawn. What was Alice? A pawn.

Briefly: White Queen mom to Lily (pawn) = Alice (pawn) = grows to queen in terms of text and chess