TV & Stage
In recent years interest in Luke’s work has led to increased media interest in Luke, THE DICE MAN and the idea of dicing. This has led to a number of stage, television, and film projects.
STAGE
THE DICE HOUSE
In February and March of 2004 the play THE DICE HOUSE had an eight-week run in London’s West End, and audiences loved it. Inspired by Luke’s novel THE DICE MAN, the play is a comic romp that dramatizes the goings on in the dice center clinic of Dr. Rattner, who treats his patients by introducing them to the dice life. It is written by the brilliant young playwright Paul Lucas and produced by Neal Foster’s Birmingham Theatre Company, which has a decade-long record of successful UK productions. As an actor Neal also played the role of Dr. Rattner. He is currently negotiating for a New York City Off-Broadway production. For more, click THE DICE HOUSE.
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THE SIX-SIDED MAN
THE SIX-SIDED MAN, by Gavin Robertson (www.gavinrobertson.com) is a play in the form of a confrontation between a psychiatrist and a patient whom he tries to introduce to the idea of dicing. It toured the UK in the fall of 2001 and again in 2002.
It is a brilliantly unique combination of dialogue and mime, performed by two extraordinary performers. The ideas of THE DICE MAN are presented and the poor patient bumbles his way to try to follow them, often turning the table on his psychiatrist. Comedy reigns.
Gavin Robertson is the author, director and producer of several successful two-man plays that have toured the UK and the world over the last decade.
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TELEVISION
DICEMAN TRAVEL SHOW
In 1998, two English film-makers, Russell Harris and Shaun Fenton, inspired by THE DICE MAN, created the Diceman Travel Show. They began traveling around England, Europe, and the U.S. by casting a green die to determine where they went and what they did. For three years "The Diceman Travel Show" appeared on the European Discovery Channel and in the last two years the show began has appeared on American television on the Travel and Discovery Channels.
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TV series: DICE
In 2000 Canadian and English production companies began working jointly on DICE, a six-part dicing TV series for Canadian and U.K. television. Alison L. Kennedy and John Burnside, two highly praised UK writers, wrote the teleplays with Luke acting as consultant. Principal photography began in April 2001 and the series was aired in Canada in the fall of 2001, and in Italy, Sweden and New Zealand in 2002.
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THE DICELIFE: The Random Mind of Luke Rhinehart was aired on England's Channel Four on Saturday, March 20th of this year. This twenty-five minute film, created and directed in black and white by Nick Mead, is an expression in dance, music and words of Luke’s dicelife ideas. Luke’s thinking was interpreted in modern dance by Wayne McGregor and his award-winning dance company (Random Dance) and by music created especially for this film by Mick Jones (formally of The Clash). Luke appears as his author self, playfully presenting some of his ideas from THE DICE MAN.
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Documentary: DICEWORLD
In the early nineties two minor documentaries were made about "dice-people," but in 1998 Paul Wilmshurst and Big Table Films made a major one-hour documentary about Luke, THE DICE MAN, and people influenced by the book. The resulting film, DICEWORLD, was aired on Channel Four in the UK in the summer of 1999, and in other countries in the two years since. Wilmshurst is one of the most successful and praised documentary filmmakers in the UK.
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FILM
Luke’s books have consistently attracted wide film interest. Over the years more than fifteen screenplays have been written based on THE DICE MAN. Major actors like Jack Nicholson, Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Nicholas Cage and Ben Stiller have expressed interest in THE DICE MAN, but still no major film has been made. Luke himself has written three screenplays of THE DICE MAN. And film rights to all of his novels have been optioned at one time or another with SEARCH FOR THE DICE MAN and WHIM already optioned on three different occasions. Luke has written scripts based on all of his novels except LONG VOYAGE BACK. (See Film Projects for more.)
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Send email to lukec@taconic.net
Copyright © 2009 Luke Rhinehart
