Sullivan’s performance of their over-the-top exchanges and the boys’ precocious thinking wins laughs, keeping the first half of the play light and the characters endearing. The twins’ obsessions — cooking, tax dodges, carpenter ants, video game violence — become comedic fodder for Sullivan. He creates two distinct characters by quickly stepping between spots and speaking in a high-pitched, know-it-all manner for one of the twins and then a gravelly whine accompanied by a sly look for the other.

Sullivan’s script is impeccable. Smart, but not fussy. Adventuresome, but measured. Thoughtful, but never, ever pretentious, Autocrat crackles with electricity as a work of literature. Sullivan’s background in improv comedy shines in his performance style. Autocrat is not a solo show, but rather a play in which Sullivan plays all the characters.