 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2011) |
| The Shape of the Table | |
|---|---|
| Written by | David Edgar |
| Date premiered | 8 November 1990 |
| Place premiered | National Theatre, London, UK |
| Original language | English |
The Shape of the Table is a theatrical drama written by David Edgar. [1] It was first staged at the National Theatre, London, UK on 8 November 1990 - the first anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall - in a production directed by Jenny Killick. [2]
The Shape of the Table is a powerful depiction of a fictional Eastern European nation's transitional journey from stoic Communist leadership to a more Western style democracy. The timing of the original staging to coincide with the first anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall, and thus the Communist regime, marked the first in a trilogy of dramas Edgar had written on the theme of negotiation in the region. Other plays include Pentecost and The Prisoner's Dilemma . The trilogy was revived by North Carolina’s Burning Coal theatre company in 2014. [3]
The title of the play refers to a controversial incident surrounding negotiations held during the Vietnam War. Diplomats from the US, Saigon and Communist leaders took much time deciding the seating positions of delegates before discussions could even begin.
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Pentecost is a 1994 play by the British playwright David Edgar. It is named after the Jewish and Christian festival of Pentecost. It is set during the early 1990s and concerns the discovery of a mural in a small church. It is part of a trilogy of plays on the theme of negotiation set in Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall: the other two plays are The Shape of the Table (1990) and The Prisoner's Dilemma (2001).
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