Limbo Theatre Company is a new Canberra theatre company formed by seven Canberra Academy of Dramatic Art graduates who pride themselves on being seriously silly. So says ensemble member Nick Steain, who adds that the company name comes from the feeling of being stuck in a creative limbo having recently graduated.

"We're trying to find connections between study and industry."

He says forming and operating the company - where a variety of essential tasks, not just acting, have to be performed - has been "a steep learning curve. Training is one thing, applying the principles in the real world is something completely different. But they are finding their feet and hope to create and produce their own work as well as performing that of others.

In keeping with the seriously silly ethos, Limbo's first show, a co-production with Honest Puck, will be Dario Fo's satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

"It's a crazy, crazy play," Steain, 26, says.

"We were attracted to this as the first play we chose to perform because it has a very strong comic element to it with very serious undertones."

Steain formed Limbo with Hayden Splitt, Damon Baudin, Izaac Beach, Imogene Irvine, Jessica McHenry (member in Victoria) and Anneka van der Velde.  He says, "There are a couple of reasons  to start our creative endeavours. We wanted to put our skills into practice really immediately. Some of us had graduated from CADA six to 12 months ago and wanted to take control of our artistic careers and also to shape our own skills in other areas of the industry."

Honest Puck, run by CADA's Elizabeth and James Scott, has provided rehearsal space and guidance for the new company and Sam Wilde, who spent two decades as an art director in film and television in Sydney and recently moved to Canberra, has designed the set.

Splitt, 23,  says Fo's 1970 play is a political farce inspired by a real-life incident the previous year when Giueseppe Pinelli, suspected of being an anarchist who bombed a bank,  fell - or was thrown - to his death from a high window in a Milan police station.

"Later investigations confirmed him innocent of the crime," Splitt says.

"He wasn't a terrorist or an anarchist."

Splitt says the comedic side of the play is the farcial investigation of the police headquarters and the original inquiry by a character named the Maniac - a mouthpiece for Fo - who tries to seek the truth and in doing so destroys authority and brings power back to the powerless.

"He's a crazy character but a highly intelligent character who's quickwitted and energetic."

Among his antagonists are the clueless Inspector Betozzo and Inspector Pissani who are no match for the Maniac's shrewdness, disguises and impersonations.

Director Clare Moss, a tutor at CADA, says part of the training there involves helping the students to become performing arts practitioners with units in design, technical work and business.

"I'm supporting a group of really talented young performing artists that are attempting to show a great deal of initiative and who took control of their creative endeavours."

She says the story behind Fo's play is a tragedy but the playwright's treatment of it is satirical, in the form of a political farce in which the Maniac takes on the traditional role of the Fool or court jester.

"He appears to be mad but is essentially the voice of reason."

It's the Maniac, she says, who comes in, unravels the truth and exposes the inadequacy and corruption of the authorities.

The play also contains elements of commedia dell'arte, she says, with stock characters and slapstick.

Moss says one of the things she wants to highlight in the production is the idea that people in positions of power are often corrupted by greed and mistreat vulnerable people, a theme still relevant today. To that end, she's neutralised some of the topical references.

"We want the audience to look at the piece and say, 'This happens.''