A theatre group is casting for a dead body to take the leading role in its next stage production, BBC News reports today.

The '1157performancegroup' has written to a number of hospices around the UK in search of a terminally ill person to star in Dead: You Will Be after their death.

An embalmer has been consulted on the best way to preserve the body for the entire 24-night run of the show, which aims to "challenge taboos surrounding death."

Artistic director Jo Dagless said that the corpse would be fundamental to the production: "It is about a kind of contact with death that is more than just a philosophical and conceptual experience. Death is something we all inevitably have to face. We are really trying to dispel the myths around death."

She added that no-one had come forward yet but they were "hopeful" someone would in time for the May 11 start date. "We haven't had a response from any of the hospices yet, but we have had a couple of fit and healthy people come forward to offer their services in the event of them having an accident or whatever. You never know when your time is up so we are accepting them in case anything does happen."