ROME is a dingy and desolate place in the eyes of director Lucy Bailey, as two hapless souls, representing Romulus and Remus, battle to the death.

The audience cranes forward to enjoy the dialogue and to search in vain for the plotters’ clear reasoning for murdering Caesar (Greg Hicks), and then reels back at some of the gorier goings on.

The most stomach-churning moment is the murder of Cinna the Poet (Patrick Romer) which closes the first half.

By that time, the slightly stuffy Hicks has taken an eternity to die (in the theatre rather than the Senate as all visitors to Rome are told).

Sam Troughton, as Brutus, overcomes a wardrobe based on Margaret Rutherford’s finest tweed outfits to deliver a series of fine soliloquies.

Darrell D’Silva’s down-toearth portrayal of Mark Antony is a real scene-stealer, particularly as he turns the city mob against the conspirators.

The large cast still can’t hide the fact that dead men have to tell a few more tales in order to play Citizens of Rome and the soldiers of Brutus and Cassius (John MacKay), facing off against the army of Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar (Joseph Arkley).

Video screens as a backdrop, with crowd and battle scenes designed by Alan Cox, are mostly welcome, although the figures remain just as animated when supposedly listening to the oratory of Brutus and Marc Antony.

I could swear that the realistic sound effects extended to the noise of a coffee percolator during the nocturnal nuances of Troughton’s haunted Brutus. It is Italy after all.

Runs until Saturday. Tickets: £12-£45. Box Office: 08448- 112-121, theatreroyal.co.uk