''The Prisoner's Dilemma'' is a theatrical drama written by David Edgar. It refers to the

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

problem of the same name and portrays its outworking in an

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...

, post-Cold War setting. The play premiered in The Other Place Theatre by the Royal Shakespeare Company in July 2001 and forms part of a trilogy with '' The Shape of the Table'' and ''

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

''. Cast for the premiere included:

Trevor Cooper Trevor Cooper (born 21 September 1953) is an English actor. Background Born 21 September 1953, Cooper studied law at Kingston Polytechnic and graduated with a master's degree in law from the University of Warwick. He taught for two years at Lo ...

(as Nikolai/Kolya),

Larry Lamb Lawrence Douglas Lamb (born 1 October 1947) is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Mick Shipman in the BBC comedy series ''Gavin & Stacey'' and Ted Case in the final series of ...

(as Tom), Joseph Mydell (as Patterson), Robert Jezek (as Hasim), Alan David (as Erik), Zoe Waites (as Kelima),

Penny Downie Penny Downie is an Australian actress known for her stage and television appearances in the United Kingdom. From 2017 until 2021 she played Ellen in the British TV sitcom ''Back''. She plays the US ambassador’s house manager Frances Munning ...

(as Gina), Diana Kent (as Floss), David Wilmot (as James), Douglas Rao (as Al), Robert Bowman (as Roman) and was directed by

Michael Attenborough Michael John Attenborough (born 13 February 1950) is an English theatre director. Background Attenborough was born on 13 February 1950 in London, the only son of actress Sheila Sim and actor-director Richard Attenborough. He is the nephew of ...

, with design by

Es Devlin Esmeralda Devlin (; born 24 September 1971) is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. She has received several accolades including a Tony Award ...

References

The Independent , Theatre and Dance : review by Paul Taylor : ''Friday, 20 July 2001''

External links

''The Prisoner's Dilemma''
at burningcoal.org
.Study guide
at burningcoal.org 2001 plays Plays by David Edgar {{2000s-play-stub