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Preview by Jack Foley
DESCRIBED as a glorious glimpse of
how insane life could be if determined by a roll of the dice -
and how ordinary it can be if it isn't - The Dice House
promises to offer an intriguing evening when it opens at The
Arts Theatre on February 4, 2004.
Directed by Graeme Messer and starring Neil Boorman, Jeremy Crutchley,
Neal Foster, James Low, Benedict Martin, Celia Meiras, Matthew
Noble and Lucy Scott, The Dice House unfolds in a commune
run by maverick psychiatrist, Dr Ratner, where patients are encouraged
to surrender all their decisions to the
roll of the dice.
Into this unique environment is hurled young Matthew, who has
been sent there against his will and his charming innocence
may not
be the only thing he is about to lose.
This original comedy, by Paul Lucas, is inspired by Luke Rhinehart's
cult classic novel, The Dice Man.
The idea of letting your every decision be decided by the roll
of two dice captured the imagination of
a generation.
Luke Rhinehart's humorous and absurd theory of dice living began
with this book, first published in 1971, when it became a cult
success.
The book sported the banner, 'few books can change your life
this one
will', and immediately began to do so; and its anarchic possibilities
are currently enjoying a huge renaissance.
Uniquely for a theatre show, a roll of the dice can also decide
the ticket
price.
Each theatre patron will have the choice of buying the set-priced
tickets or they can choose to roll six dice to determine
their Dice
Price for the performance.
Prices range from £6 to £36, and the odds dictate
there is only a one in 46,656 chance of paying the full price
- or the cheapest!
Dice law dictates the average price will be £21 (but that
only affects
the theatre management: the producers rolled the dice 200 times
to check this was indeed the case, just in case!).
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Luke Rhinehart, himself, will be rolling the dice in London with
the audience in the preview week.
Interest in The Dice Man, as book, film and concept, has undergone
a miraculous rebirth in the past few years and is now at an all-time
high.
The book has been published, or republished, in more than ten
countries in the past six years, and is now selling more copies
than at any time since initial publication 32 years ago.
The Dice Man has spawned numerous plays, screenplays, TV series
and TV documentaries.
Paul Lucas is the highly praised author of five plays.
His first, Swamp City, was performed at the Birmingham Rep Studio.
The Slight Witch premiered at the same theatre in 2000.
All That Trouble That We Had was produced at Birmingham Rep
and Newcastle, while Stargazers received its premiere at The
Stephen Joseph Theatre, in the Round, and he is currently writing
a
commission for Hampstead Theatre.
Luke Rhinehart is the acclaimed author of seven works of fiction:
The
Dice Man, The Book of the Die, Whim, Long Voyage Back, Search
for the Dice Man and White Wind, Black Rider (formerly Matari).
His books explore chance and self, illusion and freedom.
In 1999, Loaded magazine named The Dice Man 'The Novel of the
Century'.
The Dice House, Arts Theatre, 6/7 Gt. Newport Street, Leicester
Square, WC2. Box Office: 020 7836 3334.
Previews from February 4, Mon Thurs (8pm); Fri (6pm and
9pm); Sat (3pm and 9pm). Tickets: £24.50 and £29.50
or 'The Dice Price' (Tickets from £6 to £36).
l For the first two weeks only
anyone throwing 36 will receive a FREE ticket and a chocolate
éclair (to be consumed before entering the theatre!)
Dice price tickets are only available in person at the theatre.
The production is being presented by Dice House Productions,
by arrangement with The Birmingham Stage Company and John Newman
for Newpalm Productions, Old Red Lion Theatre and Peter Wolff.
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