Is it a bard? Is it a plane? No, it's Timon at the Globe

These daredevil thespians are part of an original new take on Shakespeare's Timon Of Athens.

Much of the production at the Globe Theatre takes place above the heads of the audience as actors crawl on a huge net suspended over the stage and then abseil and even bungee jump to the floor.

Director Lucy Bailey decided her actors should be airborne to resemble birds of prey feeding off the benevolent nobleman Timon, who finds his friends desert him when he runs out of money. She said: "On the net at the beginning [are] most of the cast who come down when they see this feast being prepared. They creep and bungee jump their way down. We use the net a lot throughout the play as it is inhabited by this world of birds."

The actors, who trained for six weeks in a Woolwich hangar to master the complex choreography, have so far managed to escape unhurt. "I'm touching wood as we speak," said Ms Bailey.