A compelling new play about the desire to win opens The Studio's exciting Autumn/Winter 2007 Season with GAME THEORY.
Funny, dark and disturbing GAME THEORY comes to the Royal Exchange Theatre from Wednesday 12 - 15 September for its only UK performances.
GAME THEORY measures the desire to win against to need to reconcile as we see the conflicting interests of three separate groups of people who are involved in three extraordinary situations. Forgiveness, civility and the difference between saying something and meaning it are examined as we follow them as they each seek to make points, resolve issues and ultimately, win their arguments.
In the first situation we see three envoys negotiate the wording of a press statement that will announce the beginning of conciliatory talks. In the second we see three siblings return to their family home, each claiming rightful ownership. In the third a victim, the perpetrator and an arbitrator meet under the auspices of a restorative justice system.
GAME THEORY is originally inspired by ‘game theory' mathematics, which studies human behaviour in conflict or competitive situations.
The writers of GAME THEORY, Pamela Carter and Selma Dimitrijevic drew from research into the Israeli/Palestine peace negotiations in the 1990s, the construction and application of the Dayton Agreement in the former Yugoslavia, the use and application of restorative justice in the Scottish judicial system and the process of healing communities in the Balkans.
Pamela Carter is a writer, director and dramaturg and is also directing GAME THEORY. Pamela was research associate at the Scottish touring theatre company Suspect Culture from 1998 to 2002 and lectured part-time at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Cultural Theory and Performance.
Selma Dimitrijevic is a Croatian writer, translator and dramaturg currently based in Edinburgh. Translations include plays and novels by David Harrower, Enda Walsh, Irvine Welsh, James Kelman and Salman Rushdie. She is currently under commission for the Traverse Theatre and working on a new play titled THE SCARECROW TREE.
The cast of GAME THEORY includes Meg Fraser who recently won the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland award for Best Female Actor, for her part in the Citizens' Theatre production of TOM FOOL.
