Police Cops: The Musical – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

L-R Nathan Parkinson, Melinda Orengo, Zachary Hunt, Natassia Bustamante and Tom Roe in Police Cops: The Musical at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London. Picture: Pamela Raith

Police Cops: The Musical continues at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 20 April 2024.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Ludicrously laugh-out-loud funny, highly infantile, but very endearing, this manic musical ticks just about all the boxes required for a guilty pleasure night out. Even the whacky opening number doesn’t go anywhere near close to suggesting what you’re in for over the next two hours, but as the tale unfolds you can’t but admire this undeniably talented, although clearly bonkers cast’s ability to pull off a madcap production that almost defies description.

Following its hit run at Southwark Playhouse Borough last year, the critically well-received musical returns in a revised format to the immaculately run Southwark Playhouse Elephant for just seven weeks, after five sell-out years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and featuring music by Brit Award-winning Ben Adams (Eugenius!). Also returning are creators, and co-artistic directors of the Police Cops Comedy Theatre Company, Zachary Hunt (Jimmy Johnson), Nathan Parkinson (Malloy) and Tom Roe (Harrison), the trio being a very tight unit who know each other inside out on stage and who’s creative baby this is. Books, lyrics and co-direction being by them.

Act I begins in blistering fashion, with the opening number ‘The U.S Eighties’ – as good a start to a comedy musical as you could wish for – immediately raising high expectations for the rest of the evening ahead. The retro background, being set in 1985 and twin settings of the good old USA and Mexico, provides rich comedy pickings and the creators have milked the era for all its worth, as does the good cop, bad cop storyline and the almost religious moral quest to be an Ameri-can not an Amer-cant. The level of silliness, toy props and all, does get a little wearing at times, but there are enough great original gags, verbal and visual, to more than compensate. The laudable backbone to this admirably bonkers production is a superlative cast which given its hi-energy, high-risk strategy simply cannot afford a single weak link.

Hunt is mightily impressive as Johnson the wannabe best cop ever, and Roe immaculate as the somewhat seedy and life-battered (and occasionally tongue-tied) detective Harrison seeking redemption after ‘leaving’ the force. When he initially appears as an undercover cop dressed just in a trash can and police hat, it’s clear the evening is going to be a touch weird, but nothing prepares you for the roller-coaster ride you’re about to experience. Parkinson, for one, puts in an incredulous performance as Malloy, a thoroughly bad egg whose wicked plans are ultimately defeated by… an egg.

Standout tunes include the final number of Act I, ‘Hard On’, while the opener to Act II, ‘Something More Meaningful’, is a jaw-droppingly un-PC twist on being a do-gooder, sung by a doughy-eyed Rosa in what is Melinda Orengo’s best moment among other fine ones.

Then there’s the choreography (Matt Cole) which is acrobatic and anarchic throughout and a constant danger to those sitting in the front row. In her own words, Natassia Bustamante (Billie/Gonzalez) is ‘so pleased to be back with the Police Cops team, fighting crime and saving America through unnecessarily exhausting dance numbers and cool tricks that no one asked to see!’ You can only admire her energy and the total commitment to this borderline certifiable production from all five cast members – it might go a bit unintentionally pear-shaped on occasions but like some panto/musical hybrid that’s come nine months too early, it’s pretty much irresistible.

Given the maverick material and madness on stage, you can either buy into this show early on or you can’t. As the script preaches, don’t be can’t, be a can because ultimately, it’s a riot – and we’re not talking civil disobedience.

Derek Smith