Actors: email us: chesslive@live.com

Given the trans-historical nature of the games, the actors span centuries in clothing style and speech. The back line, the royalty of the game are pseudo-Renaissance, faux Renaissance, allowing for lots of velvet, satin, chain-mail and rhinestones without too much consideration of conforming to a particular time-frame styling.

There is a goal to look good, marvelous, and to have all of the pieces/actors look like they are playing in the same game. So if you want to put together your own costume, be so kind as to share it with The Chess Live Ladies.

ROYALTY: THE BACK LINE

Rooks/Castle: These generally have been Ladies of the Realm, dressed in court finery. They get comfortable stools or low chairs, and need to have something lady-like to do to occupy them, such as reading, sewing, embroidery, crewel work, cross-stitch, watercolor. As they occupy corners of the board, they will probably have audience behind them who can't see some action well, so it would be good if they shared observations of what is happening with the audience, and/or share what they are doing. All within their characters. The one who is reading could have pieces of of the books she reads to the audience.

Knights: Images of stalwart men, standing tall, ready for defense, offence or revenge. They can be dressed in a wide variety of costuming, from full court fashion to rag-tag scraps of battle. Skill at fencing, dance or martial art would be, well, marvelous, allowing for some skirmishes or demonstrations.

Bishops: These are the advisors to the royalty, and in Chess LIve over the years, have changed from peace invocation purveyors to the oily manipulative greedy mavens that are behind a major portion of the problems in the world. The word bishop comes from "overseer" in Greek, which fits the idea of an advisor who thinks he knows it all. Therefore, the Bishops will not have costumes with religious symbols.

King and Queen: On the black side, we have a queen, Queen Sharon. She has a rich red satin and black velvet dress, topped with a red velvet cape/train. On the white side, we have two White Queen costumes one small and one large. For the kings, we have a largish Black King costume, tunic and knickers, bring your own tights. (Ah yes, opportunity for Men In Tights.)

PAWNS: THE FRONT LINE

The pawns are characters and character types of modern day society. Among the possibilities are an artist, shopkeeper, kids with toys, surfer, fisherman, gardener, waitress, you name it. We've had a person dressed as a dog and space aliens. We'll consider anything, but reserve the right to say, wellll, how about (insert something different).

A wish-list of pawn characters:

A surfer in a black wetsuit would be so Morro Bay.

We have a possibility of having a stand-up comic, and have a great black T-shirt to wear. (We're not telling what it says...)

Gardener:anyone who wants to be a gardener on the board probably has some clothes to be in. We are looking for a small garden wagon which we will fill with plants and planters so the gardener will be occupied on the board. This piece would "garden" right on the board... replanting young plants into planters, perhaps even 'planting' on a square on the board...with the risk that someone will land on the square and crush the plants...or not. Other props are gardening books, a sprinkler can (could be the weapon of choice).

Shopkeeper: this really ought to be played by a Morro Bay shopkeeper. We have several clerks we think might be great on the board, but if someone reading this really wants to be it, let us know. We'll collect up some stuff from various shops and the piece will do her/his best to sell it.

Fisherman: commercial or sport. Think of the opportunity to clean out that tackle box!

Collector: This could be someone who has collections that would look good spread out on a checkerboard stage. It's a challenge with beautiful things: theater is hard on props, but if they were either well protected in their presentation, they could be somewhat fragile. Alternatively, this piece could come on to the board and have boxes and displays that they haven't seen before, and their task will be to sort through it, get to know it, display it, share it, and perhaps lose it during the course of the game.

Gymnast: Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a lithe, talented being on the stage who could do a double back flip? Or cartwheels from end-to-end? If you can do those things, let us know. If you know of someone who can, let them know we'd love to have them be a part of the show.

Chess players: This could be two kids who are playing a game, or an adult who knows all about chess, and could help explain to everyone what is going on with the game. We have a 'circular' chess game, and a three-tier star trek board as well as other, more common sets. And an Alice and Wonderland set.

Artist: We think we have convinced one artist, the marvelous Anne Godsey, to be on the board for at least one day. An artist documenting the pieces, the moves, the audience and the festival would make a great record of the game. A second artist is needed for the second day, and, of course, all artists and photographers are invited down to enjoy the color, pageantry and unusual setting.

Asher, a kid playing with toys, including army men. We have a person for this piece, Asher.

That's 10 of 16. What's missing? Send in suggestions, or volunteer to play your favorite alter-ego.