If there is one word that comes to mind while watching Fables for Robots, it’s dumb. Although certainly not intellectually dumb. In fact, academically there might even be some ground-breaking revelations regarding the crucially undervalued role of algebra in pastoral love poetry interspersed amongst all the other weirdness. It truly is a bizarre play, and yet it still manages to be absolutely charming.

Fables for Robots was originally a collection of short stories written by Stanislaw Lem. The tales seem to lie somewhere between the realms of humorous science fiction and fairy tale. Benedict Mulcare’s adaptation takes six stories and retells them with six boiler-suit clad performers, a healthy dose of shadow puppetry, delightfully DIY props and a whole lot of humour.

The set is relatively pared-back with boxes of props littering the stage and the sound and lighting design (by Daisy Everingham) is suitably subtle and sci-fi-esque. It did strike me, however, that while the homespun nature of the whole piece had a rather charming air, it could have had a much greater impact with a little more seriousness.  There are deeper philosophical points that some stories are clearly trying to make: the danger of allowing technology to embrace artistry, the power of creativity, the burdens of knowledge – there is real substance to these tales, and this production didn't always capitalise on it. Had this been a play for kids then the fact that these points were somewhat lost wouldn’t matter. However, there are enough jokes aimed at adults to warrant adding a more cautious or perhaps even threatening edge.

“The dialogue drifts between pseudo-insightful commentaries and farcical interludes”

It feels like a kid’s show but with content very much aimed at adults or, rather more specifically in this case, at Cambridge students. One was quite literally told in the style of a familiar lecture, complete with lecturer asking questions that no one was equipped to answer. The dialogue drifts between pseudo-insightful commentaries on the existence of dragons and the atomic recipe for gold and farcical interludes from police officers and PhD Pirates. While the stories resemble a children’s bedtime read with fantastical names and tales of kings, kingdoms and crazy scientists. The language, on the other hand, is anything but. I have to marvel not only at the memory but also the articulation of the cast as they stride through complex monologues with ease.

They also worked beautifully as an ensemble, the work of physical coordinator Charlie Santos meaning the piece was fast paced with every performer constantly involved. There were some stand out comedy performances - Jasper Cresdee-Hyde’s snivelling king had me in stitches - although overall the quality of the performances was variable. For many members, however, it was a great debut onto the Cambridge theatre scene. It is clear that the weirdness of their task was much appreciated, with perhaps one too many instances of corpsing.

In all honesty, there is nothing I would write that could adequately explain this hour of madness and wit. The show does demonstrate some teething problems, and a slight inability to bring the audience successfully through it. Regardless, if an hour of relatively light-hearted fun with one or two philosophical thought experiments thrown in for good measure is what you're looking for, then Fables for Robots is the play for you.