THE second play in the 2017 Everyman Rep's first season has arrived and it's a challenging piece of work - boldly going where few productions go before.

Pure Everyman.

It reminded me of the late, great surrealist Ken Campbell's era with some Bertolt Brecht and Monty Python thrown into the manic mix.

A group of unemployed friends plans a fantastic snow trek to the South Pole - without leaving their East Berlin home.

An imagination stretcher of the first order.

The passionate leader takes on the persona of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1911.

Written in 1984 by German thinker Manfred Karge, this artistic journey has enjoyed various interinterpretations.

This one could quite easily have been set in a Liverpool high-rise without losing any of the writer's universal themes.

Here, on a sparse in-the-round stage, there are pigeons in the attic, an adaptable washing machine and a ladder.

Oh, and a washing-line doubles up, so to speak, as the Antarctic.

At 95 minutes there is no interval, which makes sense at it would have disrupted the frenetic flow.

Yet I was lost at the outset - stuck at base camp.

I needed a plot compass.

I would have welcomed a story sherpa to guide me where the characters were going.

Director Nick Bagnall clearly gets the best out of his nine-piece, multi-versatile ensemble crew.

Yet the audience need narrative help along the way - there are times when you feel stranded ... snow blind.

There were scenes where you are not sure if it is reality or part of their dream.

Exceptional dialogue and poetry, however, leave their mark throughout.

Yet again, the Everyman is poles apart when it to comes to bringing a fresh revolutionary take on contemporary drama.

Brave exploration - three stars 

The show's Everyman run ends on April 8.

Tickets are from the box office on 0151 709 4776