Revenge may well be a dish best served cold, but the blood runs anything but in this thrusting, vibrant production of John Ford’s classic.

It’s an intensely sexual, mesmerising, disturbing and very graphic production, which will not be to everyone’s taste: clearly some of the audience on Tuesday were prepared for Jacobean drama, but not for the 21st century twist Cheek by Jowl have put on it.

The programme warns of ‘themes that may cause offence’ but I don’t think they meant the dancing, which seemed to upset the people behind us more than the bloodshed.

To the Game of Thrones generation, incest, nudity and violence are familiar subjects for drama, although they still retain their shock value.

Constant emphasis here is on the lack of morality among most of the rest of the characters, who seethe with strong emotions: from the Friar’s opening exhortation to troubled Giovanni to abandon his feelings of lust for his sister Annabella to creepy servant Vasques’ machinations on behalf of his bamboozled master Soranzo, himself no stranger to double-dealing.

The red-themed set, with its central bed, is cleverly modern and beautifully used, with action taking place half off-stage as well as on (nice bathroom).

I always find modern dress productions using traditional texts effective as they make me concentrate harder on the words and their meanings. This time I was struck by the repeated emphasis of the word Pity, and its varied meanings within the play.

Soranzo (Maximilien Seweryn) and Annabella (Eve Ponsonby) were the stars for us, both unlikeable at times but terribly touching in their silent joy as, having settled their differences, they selected a layette for their little one.

It runs until Saturday: definitly a must-see providing you have a strong stomach.