We’re left hanging

An architect tries to commit suicide in the half-finished cathedral he designed, but his attempt fails. He is left hanging from the gallows, alive as ever, apparently not even wounded.

This is the central image of Improbable Theatre’s “The Hanging Man” at Freud Playhouse, part of UCLA Live’s International Theatre Festival. Always intriguing and sometimes amusing, it’s a production that feels almost as unfinished as its protagonist’s suicide attempt.

Architect Edward Braff (Richard Katz) hangs from a noose. But Death (played by Lisa Hammond) refuses to take him, offended that he tried to bypass Death’s prerogatives. Braff and various assistants, a patron and a priest aren’t quite sure what to do next.

Often it appears that the show’s trio of creators -- Phelim McDermott, Lee Simpson and Julian Crouch are credited with direction, design and script -- feel the same uncertainty.

The production begins to head in the direction of a social parable when it becomes clear that the suspension of this one death has halted everyone else’s deaths as well, in the manner of the 1938 Paul Osborn comedy “On Borrowed Time.” If death disappears, ponders a general, how will anyone be able to wage a decent war?

If the production had continued to emphasize these far-reaching results of its primary incident, the architect’s personal story might not have mattered so much.

About two-thirds of the way into the production, however, the narrative finally begins to examine the architect’s life and his reasons for suicide. Nothing very convincing turns up.

Braff’s autobiographical details remain very sketchy. We get the idea that his great success in using other people’s influences on an earlier project turned sour because he was given absolute freedom with his next project and didn’t know how to handle it. But all of these developments remain abstract, disconnected to the glimpses of a traditional cathedral we can see in the set.

Improbable Theatre, a British company, was last seen at the Freud with “Spirit” in 2001. But two of its three artistic directors, McDermott and Crouch, are better known for “Shockheaded Peter,” the curdled musical collection of bedtime stories that played the Freud in 2000. The philosophy of the group is heavily improvisational, with emphasis on the fluidity of the process instead of the final results.

This is apparent from reading a synopsis of “The Hanging Man” that was included in the press kit; the production appears to have changed since the synopsis was written. The project compares the play to “Everyman” and refers to the architect’s “meanness of spirit” and “relentless obstinacy,” qualities that are largely missing from the man on the stage.

This improvisational emphasis overtakes a segment of the production. An actor explains that the company members recorded memories of dreams about death as part of their process, and two of the actors then listen to the recordings on headsets and repeat what they’ve heard to the audience. This material could have been much more effectively integrated into the production.

Other scenes, while no more integrated, are much more entertaining. The entire cast, including the Hanging Man, suddenly starts dancing to a recording by the British pop group Liberty X. The Hanging Man’s wife appears for a solo number accompanied by swirling reflections from a disco ball.

The actors have fun disappearing and emerging from trap doors, going into sudden twitches, and manipulating big pieces of fabric into costumes that enhance their otherwise blank and nondescript clothes.

Although “endings are very difficult,” in the words of the script, the ending attains an element of awe despite the script’s fumblings.

With their use of the word “Improbable” in its name, this company clearly wants us to shed conventional expectations of logic. But it isn’t logic that we miss as much as the feeling that the artists know what they want to say.

*

‘The Hanging Man’

Where: Freud Playhouse, northwest corner of UCLA campus, near Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue

When: Today, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.

Ends: Saturday

Price: $30-$45

Contact: (310) 825-2101

Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes