Described as being “lovingly ripped off” from ancient Roman Comedies (in turn were stolen from Greek comedies), Vice Versa is Phil Porter’s latest comic farce being performed at the RSC’s Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although I anticipated absurd humour, I was not prepared for fast-paced filth fest I experienced.

The premise is this: intelligent, likeable servant Dexter plots to escape from the clutches of the odious General Braggadocio (who has enslaved her and her beautiful mistress Voluptua) with the aid of her former master who happens to be staying next door and a monkey named Terence. Dexter, with the help of her friends, is able to trick the clueless Brag into believing that Voluptua has an identical twin sister Drusila to cover up the fact that her mistress has been sneaking off next door to visit her lover Valentin (who is staying with the lawyer Philoproximus) via the attic skylights, resulting in dodgy Greek accents, innuendos and misunderstandings aplenty.

From the off, the audience is bombarded by joke after joke. The comedic devices employed in the script combined with the performances from the cast ensure that even the most straight-faced/-laced viewer is bound to find at least a few jokes to their liking. Director Janice Honeyman uses the Roman technique of breaking down the fourth wall with asides and banter, allowing the audience to feel included in making a mockery of Brag. The pun game was strong in the script with the second half featuring a good three minutes spent making food-based jokes. Inept servants Feclus (Steven Kynman) and Omnivorous (Byron Mondahl) contributed much of the slapstick humour to the show and were especially hilarious as drunken waiters, reminding me of Fawlty Towers’ Manuel except somehow less capable. To tick all the Roman comedy boxes, double entendres littered the lines, the sex jokes were seemingly endless and there was even a monkey poo added in for good measure. For me, it was like a Carry On film mixed with a pantomime, and a dash of ‘Allo ‘Allo.

The Miles Gloriosus (stock Roman comedic character of the boastful soldier) of the show was Braggadocio (Felix Hayes), a chauvinistic, deluded Roman general with an enormous ego as demonstrated by his ‘majestic’ entrance on a pimped up mobility scooter! Hayes did an excellent job of portraying this most dislikeable character with allusions to Farage and Trump presented explicitly: “Make Rome Great Again!”.

Sophia Nomvete as our clever heroine Dexter was lively, charismatic and just a delight to watch throughout. Her boundless energy brought life to every scene. Ellie Beaven as the quick-witted Voluptua, unwilling victim of Brag’s affections, was fantastic; she performed her role(s) with skill and believability - the ‘praying’ scene was priceless. Terence the monkey (Jon Trenchard) was also brilliant as Brag’s two-faced pet; his consistent cheekiness was entertaining, even when he was off-stage mingling with the audience.

The design (provided by Colin Richmond) was excellent; two facades of the houses of Brag and Philoproximus provided an elaborate backdrop in the traditional Roman style with all of the action taking place in the street. The music (created by Sam Kenyon) kept up the high spirits, and the band, which was made up of some of the ensemble, was wonderful to watch, especially the expressive Melodia (Katherine Toy). I didn’t really enjoy the ‘When You’re in Rome’ song and reprise as for me it didn’t add anything to the piece except some fun dance routines but perhaps that’s a matter of taste.

Porter has successfully mirrored the Roman Comedy genre in his script and director Janice Honeyman has brought out the humanity and hilarity of the characters, making Vice Versa a Roman romp suitable for a 21^st-century audience.