First of all you need a strong stomach for Propeller’s version of this violent tale. There’s blood and guts everywhere, chainsaws, knives, needles and simple but shocking bare-handed murder.

But an audience familiar with Edward Hall’s all-male Shakespeare productions is probably prepared for the brutal end of the story-telling spectrum.

And story-telling is what they do exceeding well. Richard Clothier in the title role, shows us a murderous psychopath, which is a perfectly logical interpretation of the man, since the body count which litters his single-minded pursuit of the crown is gruesomely high.

It is a brilliant performance; at once loathsome and fascinating, he’s like a lethal spider luring willing and unwilling useful insects into his web, to an inevitable end.

There’s a hospital ambiance to the set, with moveable screens used for all manner of purposes including swift scene changes, giant hypodermic syringes, and all characters except the principals dressed in white coats and masks.

The anachronisms in costumes and props strangely do not jar. The story has been lifted out of its true 15th century setting, and occasional liberties taken with Shakespeare’s text, to make the story starker and stronger.

The acappella singing by the cast is beautiful. The old English songs were chosen by the cast and inserted by Hall, the director, at appropriate and sometimes hilariously inappropriate junctures.

Black though this period of history is, there is irony aplenty and characters like the two assassins, played by Sam Swainsbury and Richard Frame, act like a couple of low class villain East End from the Kray brothers’ gang.

Dominic Tighe, Jon Trenchard, Tony Bell and Kelsey Brookfield take the female roles in the effective Propeller style of putting them in lovely dresses (all black) but with few other concessions to femininity. They make the words and body language do the rest.

The two little princes, Richard’s nephews and rightful heirs to the throne, were portrayed by realistic puppets, voiced and manipulated by the cast. They provided some amusement, but also relief that real child actors were not involved in the blood bath.

Richard III runs until April 21, followed by The Comedy of Errors from April 22 April to April 30. The two productions will be on tour after their stay at the Watermill.

Catch them somewhere if you can.