Cop Satire Not Arresting Enough

The Age

Thursday April 3, 2008

Tim Hunter, Reviewer

COP SHOP 1.5/5

Glasshouse Hotel, 150 Gipps Street, Collingwood, until April 5

THIS satire deals with a very blokey subject: TV police shows.

It's written and performed by four guys who call themselves SausageFest Theatre, and contains high-level coarse language, drug use and adult themes. It also includes cheap gags, crass jokes and gross caricatures.

It's about four cops who arrest a drug dealer. Somehow, their investigation leads on to a serial murderer preying on rent boys in St Kilda. Egos are bruised, secrets are uncovered, and it ends with a "where are they now" wrap-up.

The thing with satire is that is has to be sharp. Cop Shop has moments of inspiration, but there's not enough freshness, and the imposed structure of a Law & Order episode weighs it down - especially when the filmed sequences aren't framed correctly, and the caption jokes are lost off-screen.

© 2008 The Age

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