Billed as one of the festival's main theatre events, The Hanging Man is more of a work-in-progress than a finished production.

Spontaneity is one thing but constant mistakes, a bizarre song and dance routine to Liberty X's Just A Little and an embarrassingly flat piece of singing, left me wondering just why this show was on the road.

The vague premise for the play is the meaning of life and death.

Edward Braff, an architect, tries to hang himself but is ignored by Death and left dangling from a noose.

Accused of taking Death for granted, Edward must hang until he learns to understand the death he craves and the life he so desperately wants to abandon.

Although the set is stunning and the staging inventive, the play feels thrown together. Good ideas lose their impact as they bounce around with no direction and the enormity of life and death seems to be skimmed not deeply explored. There is no theatrical journey and disjointed scenes are hard to engage with.

I left feeling mildly entertained but emotionally and mentally unstimulated.

With more focus and direction, this has the potential to be a thought-provoking piece. But coming from the creators of Shockheaded Peter and with tickets costing as much as £17.50, I would have expected more.

For tickets call 01273 709709.