Six-Sided Man

Once-banned books have a curious habit of forcing their way into the cultural mainstream. Joyce’s Ulysses is now hailed as the modern novel; Lord of the Flies is taught to schoolchildren; you no longer need an ID to buy a copy of American Psycho.

So it is with Luke Rhinehart’s controversial debut The Dice Man. Back in 1971 this dark, semi-comedic tale of a psychatrist who bases all his decisions on the cast of a die was banned in countless countries: in 2010, it’s the basis for a popular lunchtime Fringe play.      

The rules of the "game" are devastatingly simple: never give the die an idle option, and never disobey the roll of the dice. The result is an engaging, thought-provoking piece of physical theatre that brings a commendable lightness of touch to bear on a host of weighty themes: free will, determinism, destiny, chance.  

Using just a table, some chairs, a series of metal door frames and a handful of ABBA tunes, it inventively charts the progress of "the man the media call the six-sided man" from suicidal psychiatrist to "the dice is God" demagogue.  

Nicholas Collett imbues the grey-suited shrink with the right mix of hubris and impassivity, while co-star and scriptwriter Gavin Robertson provides effective foil for the play's interspersed drama and movement scenes.

The narrative could be clearer in the middle sections, but this is an elegant paean to the illusion that human choice can ever be value-free. Worth taking a chance on.