Raw, entrancing, awkward and at times both inspiring and confusing to watch.

Puffball, developed with professional circus performers and a group of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) volunteers aims to wear its heart on its sleeve.

It is based on personal experiences of the performers and opens with a man a man wrapped, chrysalis style, in clingfilm filled with red liquid, suspended above the stage. Another lies prostrate with white powder sprinkling down on him and a woman can be seen dousing her head in water.

In fact they really like plastic and water in this show.

There is a man covered in clear pouches filled with red jelly, crawling on hands and knees as two others rip them off him, two performers dressed like toddlers throwing toys out of a bath and a finale scene with a triple-layer of baths suspended above the stage, with performers clambering between them, swapping partners.

All this is interspersed with monologues; a young man listing all the men he's 'fallen in love with' and a performer of undefined gender shouting very loudly 'This is who I am', another slim , hunched young man states that every sexual or romantic encounter he's ever had has been 'confusing'.

There were times when the show was fascinating and the actual circus performances itself were amazing with a male and female couple cavorting playfully mid-air under a floating bed, two men entwining themselves tenderly from a hanging chain and a cheeky trampolinist somersaulting in a dizzy show of skill to impress his waiting lover.

But it was a long show, almost two hours straight through, and there were also times when it felt a bit sluggish and the meaning of what was happening was lost to the audience.

The deeply personal inspiration for the show was admirable and it created images that will linger long in the mond, it's just a shame the sometimes the heart was overshadowed by the weirdness.