Are you a tick or a snail? Probably not a question you’ve ever asked yourself, but it may decide your fate once the revolution comes. In this punkish, perplexing, slightly clumsy show, small-time gang leader Uex gets his hands on a philosophy book, and against all expectations is intrigued. He starts to run weekly classes for his anarchist-adjacent friends, but this is no Dead Poets Society; their reading of the book takes a darker turn, towards personal vendettas and collective revenge.

The story’s stylishly presented, in a ramshackle kind of way. Playing Uex, Joe Spoors accompanies selected scenes on an on-stage drum kit, which sparks nicely off the dialogue and chimes with the revolutionary vibe. Some unintended anarchy’s added by an oversized metal frame, which menaces the front row’s knees every time it’s spun around but does deliver a few striking visuals as coverings are unveiled or ripped aside.

The philosophy turns on the concept of the Umwelt, the idea that every living thing has its own meaningful version of the world. Uex gets the Umwelt very wrong indeed – at one point seeming to think he can manifest a better life by doing press-ups, but later interpreting a metaphor about ticks in a forest as an injunction to reshape society. It all has a personal dimension for gang member Adam, whose partner Anarchia – the least violent yet arguably most callous of the characters – is intellectually two-timing him with the philosopher who started it all. You can probably guess that this won’t end well.

I think I get it. I think it’s a parable about the subversion of ideas, and how a refined and abstract concept can be reduced to something that would horrify its original creator. The incongruous fixation on the Umwelt lends the story an absurdist tone, but the real-world analogue could be a political ideology or even a religion. If I’m right about what they intended, it’s quite a clever concept; if I’m wrong, well, it’s good that they made me think hard enough to come up with an original idea.

The trouble is, I had to think hard, because I had to write this review. I’m fairly sure that most people won’t engage so deeply, and will just roll on to their next show in a haze of philosophical confusion. There’s even a risk that they’ll read it as an intellectual sneer –  punching down at those who haven’t had the education needed to decode the Umwelt. Whatever the show is really trying to convey, it could be a whole lot clearer.

There are good moments and interesting concepts here, including many I don’t have the word count to touch on. There are wittily surprising images, multi-layered characters, and an elaborate sexual metaphor involving a violin. But the show as a whole sits in a confusing middle ground: not surreal enough to be absurdist, not sharp enough to be comedy, not structured enough to entirely make sense. I can’t recommend it for your Fringe tick list.