Gardner Arts Centre, Falmer, Wednesday-Saturday May 5-8

The hero of this story is a tragic half-god, half-man in search of immortality.

His is an epic tale from ancient Mesopotamia, preserved on clay tablets and only deciphered from the original Sumerian in the last century.

Hailed as pivotal to the cultural history of Iraq, the story follows Gilgamesh, a tyrannical, powerful king of Uruk, who goes on a quest for the source of youth after his friend Enkidu, a wild man of the hills, dies.

Devastated and devoted to discovering how he can become immortal, the legendary ruler battles his way through a journey full of gods and monsters to discover the secret.

It is only when he fails and finally accepts his own mortality that he achieves divinity.

Brought to life by Teatro Kismet, Italy's premiere physical theatre company, this is a moving portrait of the inevitability of death.

It has also been acclaimed as a timely examination of despotic arrogance.

Performed in Italian with English subtitles, it is lit by Vincent Longuemere with an exotic landscape of shadowy gods and silhouettes of ancient icons.

Sponsored by Habitat
Wednesday May 5 to Saturday May 8, 8pm, £12-£16, 01273 709709.