“Is man no more than this?’ asks King Lear as he gazes upon the dishevelled and half-naked body of a beggar while stalking the wilderness in the midst of an epic storm.

The accent with which Lear poses this question – a deep and booming Yorkshire drawl – may surprise you, for this isn’t any old theatrical company reproducing Shakespeare in the same way for the umpteenth time: this is Northern Broadsides.

I am talking about the group’s latest production of King Lear, with direction from Sir Jonathan Miller, which is currently touring at the Theatre Royal in Bath.

It is the second NB production I have had the fortune of seeing in my life, the first being Richard III. Though this first experience was many years ago, when I was in my early teens, it struck me then as easily the best Shakespeare I had ever seen. After years of struggling with droll thespians spewing their lines out in dry RP – I left the theatre that evening and felt as though something had clicked. I finally understood the sheer power of the immortal bard.

Lear, with the titular role performed by Barrie Rutter (the company’s founder) had the precise same affect. When Rutter's Lear is enraged or saddened or insane it comes over, more than anything, as real. The broad northern accent – his own accent – manages to shake the dust that so easily forms on the works of Shakespeare and revert it back to its original best, making it fresh, original and punchy.

The supporting cast are equally excellent and the freedom allowed to them in using speaking in their own voice is utterly tangible to those in the audience.

The positive response from the audience was also tangible – with more gasps and laughter than one tends to hear in such a weighty cathedral of a work.

Rutter and NB prove, in this and other productions, that Shakespeare, when done right, can hit as hard as a punch to the stomach nearly half a millennium since it was first brought to the stage.