''The Dice House'' is a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

by Paul Lucas, first staged in June 2001 at the

Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building. Background Coventry was the fastest growing city in ...

in Coventry.Luke Rhinehart
. Luke Rhinehart (2003-01-07). Retrieved on 2009-01-29. Inspired by

Luke Rhinehart George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel '' The Dice Man,'' the story of a psy ...

's ''

The Dice Man The Dice Man is a 1971 novel by American novelist George Cockcroft, writing under the pen name, "Luke Rhinehart". The book tells the story of a psychiatrist who makes daily decisions based on the casting of a diсe. Cockcroft describes the ...

'', it explores the nature and limitations of

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

.The Dice House : Whatsonstage - Off-West End
. Whatsonstage (2009-01-14). Retrieved on 2009-01-29.

Synopsis

Dr Drabble, a psychiatrist, blackmails one of his recently cured patients - the naif, Matthew - to kidnap his wife from the Dice House, where she is undergoing therapy. He explains that she has been brainwashed by a second psychiatrist - Dr Ratner - into pursuing 'Dice Therapy', a process by which patients are encouraged to make all decisions based on the whim of dice. The plot is then sidelined to make way for a series of comic skits, based around the amusing activities of the residents of the Dice House: pubic shaving, cross dressing, car theft, murder and one man's battle against the Slow Assassins. Dr Drabble's ill-considered scheme thus plays out as farce in the background, as it becomes transparent he is more insane than his wife. In a dramatic climax, the fate of both doctors is determined by a single roll of the dice.
Newstagers.co.uk. Retrieved on 2009-01-29.

Performance history

The Dice House premiered in June 2001 at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, transferred to the Islington Theatre in March the same year and was partially rewritten for the Edinburgh Drama Festival in August 2002. Its first performance in London's West End was at the Arts Theatre in 2004, and the play has subsequently been performed by the New Stages Theatre Club in Wandsworth in July 2005 at Islington's Hen & Chickens Theatre in January 2009. and most recently at Hereford's Courtyard Theatre by Inflight Theatre Company in 2012. Performances have also been reported in the USA, Norway and Estonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dice House, The Black comedy plays 2001 plays