The Prisoner's Dilemma

Synopsis

An epic dramatisation of attempts to resolve a bloody conflict on Europe's Eastern border. The Prisoner's Dilemma is the third of David Edgar's plays about the aftermath by the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 31 July 2001:

When I read the text (thanks, RSC, for the policy!) I couldn't imagine how this play could possibly be produced or acted, but that if anyone could do it, the RSC company could, and if they couldn't, no-one could. Well, they did, with enormous conviction - and passion. It's very topical, what with Northern Ireland and the Middle East (not to mention all the others). I'm also lost in admiration for the way actors in this small space and so close to the audience, can create a whole other world - it's utterly amazing, really, that they take this thrilling risk, there - just _there_ - 3 or 4 feet away he or she is creating before your eyes an entire human being in an inescapable dilemma. (This wooden O ...) Yes, maybe the plot is more than a bit contrived in places, but you can forgive it that because of the deeper truths revealed through it. The acting was just superb. And there really _is_ humour, OK not a lot, but how funny are NI and the midEast? You certainly have to concentrate hard, but it's so rewarding. Why haven't I scored it 5? I suppose because the playwright hasn't (it wasn't his intention) given us fully rounded characters, and because of the occasionally implausible plot. But I can forgive the man who dramatised Nicholas Nickleby almost anything....

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