Animal furs, flint daggers and barbarian hairstyles are the order of the day, on a stage hemmed in by massive stone slabs while, overhead, an enormous eye peers down from the heavens.
Back in his early twenties, Branagh brought a new dynamism to Shakespearean verse speaking – his clarity of diction and physical energy blew the dust off the old-school style.
But this current production is a regression beyond even his origins.
The clarity remains, but the feeling has been replaced by a striving for theatrical effect that is closer to the broad, blustering performances of Donald Wolf it than the nuanced intelligence of many of his contemporaries.
Directing himself and his cast of recent RADA graduates, Branagh accelerates the play to the detriment of its inherent tragedy.
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The action is barns tormingly brutal, with warriors’ wooden staves thumping the stage before they impale victims beneath their armpits in the manner of school productions.
Casting Jessica Revell as both Cordelia and The Fool is a nice touch, especially as she is one of the few actors who brings some heart and subtlety to the characters.
The rest is shouty, clattering, chaotic and thoroughly tiresome.
King Lear, Wyndham’s Theatre until December 9 Tickets: 0344 482 515
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