Viewing the repellent antics of the retired butcher Max (Nicholas Woodeson) in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s gripping revival of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming — which was first staged by the company in 1965 — one is reminded irresistibly of another loudmouthed Cockney bigot who became part of the national consciousness in precisely the same year.

In the flat-capped domestic despot Max, with his gleeful employment of memorable epithets — most, regrettably, aimed at women and, specifically, at the character of his late wife, the “slutbitch” Jessie — Pinter could almost have been supplying a template for Alf Garnett. The taint of sexism common to both cannot easily be overlooked.

The spirit of the departed Jessie hovers in the background throughout this unsettling drama, which is directed by David Farr with scrupulous attention to period detail and meticulous care over Pinter’s very special way with language. Arguably, indeed, Jessie’s could be the real homecoming of the title, as represented by the irruption into the household of Max’s previously unmet daughter-in-law of six years Ruth (Aislín McGuckin).

Certainly for Max’s middle son Lenny (Jonathan Slinger), with his prurient interest in his own conception, her complicity in his sexual demands is an incestuous dream come true. Expert at presenting menacing nutcases (including a memorable Richard III), Mr Slinger triumphs again with a chilling study in deranged nastiness, an extra dimension being given to the performance by the fact that he and Ms McGuckin are the current RSC Macbeths.

Ruth’s sexual availability — not just to Lenny but to his younger brother, the boneheaded boxer Joey (Richard Riddell) — is often cited by critics as an unlikely element to the play. So, too, is the easy acquiescence of her philosopher husband Teddy (Justin Salinger) — and, indeed, her own — to the scheme to set her up as a high-class whore in London while he returns to his academic career (and their three sons) in the US.

It is a welcome feature of this production, though, that it manages to suggest that Teddy will think himself well shot of a missus who from her first appearance — edgy, clearly troubled, anxious for “a breath of air” — seems to be a very bothersome feature of his life.

Worthy of special praise, too, is the impeccable performance of Des McAleer as Max’s much-put-upon hire-car-driver brother Sam, with its overtones not only of homosexuality but of a touching awareness of his own dire predicament.

The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until October 15. 0844 800 1110 (www.rsc.org.uk).