THIS Ludlow Festival 50th anniversary production, in conjunction with the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, takes anything but a reverential, bardolatrous approach to Romeo and Juliet.

Costume and setting evoke a feral, primitive world on the edge of anarchic collapse, reminiscent more of Mad Max than of quattrocento Verona.

A steel spiral staircase dominates the stark, austere set; the music throughout is menacingly percussive, stripped of any lyricism or sense of ritual order.

The Capulet ball, for instance, is more of an All Black haka than a dance of harmony.

This reflects a dark and brutally reductive reading of the play: twinned helplessness in the huge tug of procreation – largely at the expense of courtly ceremony and poetic delicacy, both of which are integral to the play as it is the most radiantly lyrical of all Shakespeare’s plays.

There are, admittedly, some gains. It is a production of testosterone- fuelled energy and athleticism.

The street brawls and death duels are sharply choreographed.

However, the pace is relentlessly frenetic, vocally and physically, in a play that needs its contrasts of moods, its adagios.

The cast seems intent on attacking the text as though on the deck of a North Sea trawler in the teeth of a force 10 gale.

There are some commanding performances, notably Pieter Lawman’s self-satirising Mercutio and Charlie Anson’s fiercely loyal Benvolio.

There is a touching raw vulnerability about Liam Bergin’s awakening Rosaline-free Romeo.

But what dramatic or thematic sense is there in a Nurse devoid of maternal tenderness, discernibly no older than her “sweet Juliet”

and as spikily aggressive as Lady Capulet?

Matti Houghton’s feisty Juliet lacks the virginal modesty and poetic sensitivity in what is a forceful but abrasive performance.

Meditative devotional calm is the one key element eluding an otherwise compelling Friar Lawrence (Michael Jenn).

On balance, under Kate Saxon’s direction, an evening of intriguing perversities – not quite the birthday present Ludlow Festival deserves.

IAN BARGE ■ Romeo and Juliet runs until Saturday, July 4, at Ludlow Castle.

To book, call the box office on 01584 872150 or email tickets@ ludlowfestival.co.uk