Gird your loins and suspend any disbelief for the weirdest, rip-roaring adventure you’ll ever experience. Police Cops brings you an hour of absolute madness, complete with physical comedy, dance, unintentional improvisation, songs, puns and puppetry.
A wonderfully silly time.
The story is set in 1999 Manchester, where vampires roam the rave scene and only a slayer by the name of Badass can defeat them. The plot may not make that much sense, but it is a worthy sacrifice for the unique brand of comedy the troupe produces. The set and costumes are conspicuously low-budget, which could easily lead to the assumption that the show is messy or low quality. However, the simple props and staging actually make for incredibly clever and original physical comedy. Something as simple as a cabbage to the face becomes a character running through the bushes, and two painted coats make a water cooler. The audience go absolutely wild for it, but I would love to see more of these tricks taken even further.
The cast rely heavily on multi-rolling and pull it off with confidence, using their high energy levels to create extremely odd characters. The jokes, including gags that involve pulling toy babies across the floor, are completely ridiculous, but fit so well with the overall tone of the show that even the silliest of moments seem acceptable. A few mistakes were made the night I saw the show, but these errors actually resulted in some of the funniest moments due to the strength of the actors’ improvisation.
However, for a show that relies so heavily on physical theatre, I think the cast were lacking the necessary skill level to pull off some of the choreography. I understand the slapdash nature of the performance is part of its charm, but I still think the dance routines are not sharp enough and the fights could be more complex.
If you’re looking for a wonderfully silly time where no deep thinking is required, this is a fun way to spend an evening. Just make sure you don’t take any of it seriously!
