Police Cops at Ventnor Exchange Arena, Isle of Wight Review [Ventnor Fringe]
Written by Eleanor for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
An absolutely chaotic, but utterly brilliant show.
Police Cops follows Jimmy Johnson (Zachary Hunt), a young man determined to become the world’s greatest police cop after his brother (Nathan Parkinson) is killed during a robbery at their father’s diner. Teaming up with a retired detective, he sets out to bring down the leader of a Mexican drug cartel once and for all.
The real genius of the show lies in its cast. Performed by the original creators, Zachary Hunt, Nathan Parkinson and Tom Roe play a seemingly endless list of characters, switching between them at lightning speed with the help of an ever-growing collection of props and costumes. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does.
The set is deceptively simple, consisting of just two folding chairs in the centre of the stage, with tables and costume rails in each corner. Looking at it before the show begins gives little indication of the madness that’s about to unfold.
Packed with laugh-out-loud moments, unexpected twists and a few more bare bums than you’d usually expect from an evening at the theatre, I spent most of the hour wiping away tears from laughing so much. Blending scripted comedy with moments of improvisation, the cast effortlessly weave in local references, including a brilliantly niche joke about the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival after a particularly dramatic plot twist. Judging by the reaction, it was very easy to tell who was local.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, it’s easy to see why Police Cops has become such a Fringe favourite. If I hadn’t already had tickets for another show that evening, I would have happily booked to see it again before it left Ventnor.
Police Cops now heads to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it will be playing at Gordon Aikman Theatre at Assembly George Square from August 5th.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
