Following from the enormous success of Police Cops: The Musical at Southwark Playhouse last autumn, its creators are back with a new presentation of their 2017 Edinburgh Fringe show, Police Cops in Space.
The premise is simple: Sammy Johnson (Nathan Parkinson) wants to be the Best Damn Police Cop in Space to honour his father’s memory. But Tanner (Tom Roe), the evil robot who killed his father, is hell bent on wiping out every single police cop. Sammy must team up with underdog pilot Ranger (Zachary Hunt) to defeat Tanner and live up to his ambitious moniker. Along the way, the show lovingly parodies both cop dramas and sci-fi films, as well as making numerous 80s and 90s references. Some of these, such as a joke about The Animals of Farthing Wood, are completely left field but all the more delightful because of this.
Indeed, it is when the humour stretches almost too far into the nonsensical that it is at its best. The performers also excel at physical comedy, which is somewhat unfortunate given that in their current venue, Underbelly Festival’s Spiegeltent, the single-level seating means many of these moments are visible only from the very front. All three performers are clearly in their element, taking on a number of roles each and Roe in particular often switching between them at breakneck speed.
There is also the feeling that the show is being partially improvised, with reference being made to the thunderstorm battering the Spiegeltent on press night and the performers struggling at times not to corpse.
A high energy fever dream of a show, Police Cops in Space will delight fans of the existing franchise and is sure to win itself some new fans along the way.
Police Cops in Space runs at the Underbelly Festival, Cavendish Square until 18th August. For more information and tickets, follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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