The old man in the Broadway version really was Florence's father
The State Department hung the both of them out to dry in order to get their man.Viigand in the West End version is an Autistic Savant
He doesn't talk because he can't. He's brilliant at chess, but it's the only useful thing he can do.- Doesn't he have a line in act 1? Comes into Anatoly's hotel after 'Where I Want To Be', says a line, and gets told to go to hell? I might be thinking of a different show here though.
- Not mistaken. The line he says is "Comrade Molokov says you want to play Chess". That being said, many Autistic Savants can't talk, and at least in the Concert version, Freddie describes his playstyle in a way that implies rigid thinking, another trait common in Autistic people.
- Not mistaken, just because Autistic Savants can talk doesn't mean they always want to. It's possible Viigand only talks when he especially wants or needs to. The prospect of Savants only talking about their hyperfixations is not unheard of, and the USSR was not exactly known for its openness to neurodivergent people. Also consider the way Molokov described him, "A Soviet, chess-playing machine!" He doesn't talk, his thoughts never stray from the state of the play.
