Police cops in space
police cops in space
The best damn police cops… in space.
I saw the marvellous, ridiculous and riotously hilarious Police Cops The Musical at Southwark Playhouse Elephant earlier this year, and found myself both having an absolutely amazing time and being frustrated that I hadn’t seen anything by these wonderful folks before. Even now, months later, the triumphant melody of “best damn police cops ever!!” often repeats in my head - when’s the soundtrack coming out, lads?? Anyway, I vowed to try my damnedest to get to as many of their future shows as possible, and this one even counts twice as a future show.
Sumptuous plush decorations, or giant velvet asshole? You decide.
So to the Underbelly Festival in London’s Cavendish Square, and my first ever Spiegeltent - gorgeous and luxurious - despite the moniker of “giant velvet asshole” it received during this show.
Police Cops In Space. A brilliant title in itself. And sort of a Ronseal moment, because that’s exactly what it was.
From the very start, along with some highly distilled exposition, we are catapulted straight into the action - which these guys are simply incredible at, with peak physical comedy chops meaning movement and costume changes are as smooth and delightful as they should be, played with tongues firmly in cheeks and all three performers clearly revelling in the audience’s immediate hearty laughter.
This is a show absolutely riddled with jokes: sight gags, word play, silly one-liners, brilliantly awful acapella sound effects, fourth wall breaks/caresses and quite a few moments of seamlessly woven in improv, too. The team are unafraid to poke fun at the presentation, the themes, and more than a few times - each other.
The three fantastic and dynamic performers - Zachary Hunt, Nathan Parkinson and Tom Roe - all play a multitude of roles, with each having a “main” character to really get themselves into. As with the musical, these three are clearly unafraid to go all-in, and in many cases, almost all-out too - mere moments into the show all three of them have already undressed to varying levels.
The things that went “wrong” were deftly and swiftly brought into the moment, with the boys choosing to embrace and build rather than attempt to hide what might in other shows be described as things like a “wardrobe malfunction” or a “prop entanglement” or even a “critical theatre structural instability” - playing them all off as if they were intended to happen all along. (And perhaps they were!)
Post show, a very happy me, I had been beaming with joy throughout.
The story is fast paced throughout, canonically falling directly after the events of the musical, indeed they had ended that show with what seemed at the time to be a pastiche on Back to the Future and Tron, now revealed as brilliant foreshadowing to this revival of the show (first performed in 2017) whether intended at the time or not - it makes for a brilliant callback in this run. There was another large group in the crowd who had evidently been swept away by the musical too, cheering and applauding (with me) almost every single reference that popped up, and the very-high-tech neon motorcycle almost received a standing ovation in itself.
In approximately 50mins (far too short!) we were whipped across space, back in time, into a seedy alien dive bar, back to Earth briefly for intimate dancing lessons, then once more back up to the stars. Familiar sci-fi concepts are handled with fresh and inventive charm - robots being unable to laugh so just making do with a high pitched sneer; laser blasters made out of three-fingered gloves (a calling card for the Police Cops every time, I now gather); hyperdrive with a fairy-lit skipping rope and most amusingly for me, considering my current D&D PC, an android who reverted to a Southern-Belle accent when it got damaged.
Let’s be clear, this is a very silly show, it’s not taking itself at all seriously - the rat on a remote control car whizzing round and then falling off of the stage tells you that in itself - but it’s a show (and a company) that has a lot of heart and soul, and a patent passion for comedy. Inventive, chaotic, gloriously silly, and damn good fun. When the performers on stage are having as much fun as the audience is, you’re always in for a treat.
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 / 5
To find out more about Police Cops and get updates on their tours, visit their website here
If the final teaser in this show is as accurate as the musical’s was, it might not be too long before another era of Police Cops is with us! ⚔
I got a chance to speak to two of the performers after the show, congratulating them personally. The third had rushed off for a physio appointment - further demonstrating his committment to the highly demanding physicality of the show. Bravo, all!
