BENEATH skies heavy with meteorological menace, in a setting echoing with historical resonance, the Exeter Northcott production of Richard III under the direction of Ben Crocker, gets this year’s Ludlow Festival off to an auspicious, atmospheric start.

It is a production of incisive authority and momentum, powerfully visualised and beautifully delivered; there is an unmistakable impression of a director, designer and cast totally in command of the Inner Bailey space, exploiting with rare insight and audacity its visual and acoustic potential. Philip Whitcomb’s towering three-decker set, like a galleon of state, offers the actors imperious command and the audience a thrilling range of dramatic perspectives. As is not always the case in Ludlow, the players are in their element in this space: comfortable, confident, compelling. Even the ancient stones, under Russell Payne’s subtle lighting, seem to glow in approbation.

Any Richard III will stand or fall on the persuasiveness of its central protagonist. John Killoran’s Richard captures the chameleon as much as the comedian in his irresistible conspiratorial complicity with his audience. His sense of enjoyment in a virtuoso performance is palpable and contagious, but, as it should, the psychopathic paranoia of a medieval Mugabe chillingly dominates Acts Four and Five – a finely modulated, visceral performance.

In a uniformly impressive supporting cast, Stuart Organ gives us a suavely vulpine Buckingham, a sharp portrait of the political impresario, damned by hubris and his own PR portfolio. It is a brave director who will risk playing uncut the whole of the “Mad Margaret” and “Grieving Queens” scenes with all their rhetorical extravagance, but such is the strength of the casting that Liz Crowther, Saskia Portway and Roma Baskerville turn potential absurdity into prophetic urgency. Indeed, the women in this production are striking in the intensity of their verse speaking. Abby Leamon as Lady Anne even makes her outrageous seduction by the “carnal cur” plausible - almost. Much as I liked Thomas Johnson’s haunting score, onstage musicians are something of a distraction: a Verfremdung too far.

If you haven’t booked yet, it’s high time you did. This could be the summer of your bliss-content. And what was the Arts Council thinking of, threatening the Northcott grant? Richard III runs until Saturday, July 5. Times vary. Call 01584 875070 or visit www.ludlowfestival.co.uk

Ian Barge