King Lear by Northern Broadsides is at Theatre Royal, Bath until March 21

KING Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most legendary plays. In fact, it is one of the most legendary plays in the history of British theatre.

So to see it directed by another theatrical legend – Dr Jonathan Miller – is a treat indeed. And this production, by Northern Broadsides, doesn’t disappoint.

The company, based in Halifax, delivers some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful verse in broad northern accents, lending the play a modern vivacity and bringing to mind the ever popular Game of Thrones.

Dr Miller has let the play speak for itself and allowed the full psychological drama to breathe unhindered by fancy sets or over-busy staging.

Lear is big and bold enough to be heard without flashy effects – and this meditation on the meaning of power and celebrity, the pain of parent-child relationships and the battle between self-belief and self-knowledge is laid bare in punchy starkness.

The setting is beautifully understated – the minimal scenery never changes and the backdrop is a deep, inky black, with the characters lit up and glowing, giving the play a chiaroscuro effect, like a Caravaggio painting in which the subjects drift on and off the canvas.

Barrie Rutter is magnificent as Lear, taking us on an emotional journey from the vain, foolish king to the desperate, disullioned old man he becomes when the trappings of kingship are taken away from him.

Fine Time Fontayne as The Fool is restrained and dignified, acting as Lear’s conscience and never letting up on his master.

He appears as the embodiment of part of Lear’s personality, the bit which knows the truth, the bit the old man chooses to ignore.

Nicola Sanderson as Regan is exquisite as a brash, sharp-tongued harridan and Jos Vantyler as Oswald brings a nice touch of camp humour.

To see something as familiar as King Lear imbued with such freshness and made compelling all over again is about as exciting as theatre gets. Unmissable.