Four men gather in a Roman bath to talk politics – and in particular, how they can engineer a war to shore up popularity at home.

This is Alan Wilkins’ award-winning play Carthage Must Be Destroyed, running at the Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio until December 20.

The play is set in Rome. It is 149BC and Cato (John Stahl) is worried his political position is insecure. He begins a campaign of gossip and rumours to create an undercurrent of animosity against the city of Carthage.

A communal bath stands in the centre of the Ustinov stage, the studio is full of steam, as Cato draws three men into his schemes – charming bon viveur Gregor (Paul Blair), ambitious Marcus (Clifford Samuel) and Cato’s young nephew, played by Andrew Scott-Ramsay. The men lounge, discuss, argue and negotiate.

The parallels with the war in Iraq are blatant – in his introduction Wilkins brands Cato ‘the father of spin’ who established the strategy that led to the mantra of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The play is an astute piece of writing – particularly the masterful first half in which the four characters are introduced and their motivations are slowly revealed by what they say and do.

Jon Stahl is excellent as the intelligent, ruthless and unyielding Cato. Paul Blair’s performance as the engaging Gregor is also compelling. The small cast seizes Wilkins’ excellent script, inhabits it and brings it very vividly to life.