Dupon Police Trainer Review

Dupon Police Trainer Review

11th – 16th November 2024

The way he whips a big white hanky out of his pocket and carefully polishes favourite parts of his complicated uniform tells you in just a few simple gestures that this man LOVES being a police officer.

Dupon looks, and quite obviously feels, powerfully macho in his blue French police outfit, bristling with pockets, radios, alarms, lights, handcuffs and weapons. If it were not for his big, red, warty false nose, he would be the very image of unbridled state authority as he struts about the stage.

“It’s clever and thought provoking, engaging and funny”

French actor Benjamin Policisto has created Dupon and written the show, “Police Trainer: Protect, Serve, Teach You a Lesson,” running at the Barons Court Theatre.  Now living in Norway, he co-founded tb Teater with Tuva Moen, who directs this show which won the Award of Honour at the 2024 Oslo Fringe Theatre Festival.

It’s clever and thought provoking, engaging and funny, with touches of the absurd. With his partner, Didier – in the hilarious form of a six inch long toy tiger – Dupon has come to teach the audience the best French police techniques in things like crowd control, handling weapons and gathering evidence.

Using a combination of mime, soundscape and audience participation (only from willing volunteers), these techniques are revealed to include unfortunate things like the planting of evidence, dangerous incompetence, bullying and violence.

A charismatic performer, Politicisto subtly creates the uncomfortable feeling of menace associated with someone who wields state-authorised power corruptly while claiming, and possibly believing, that all he wants to do is “to protect and to serve.” Watching him, you shiver while you laugh.

Dupon is part of the Voila! Theatre Festival which ran for ten years at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone. It has relaunched this year as a multi-venue event taking place in fringe and community spaces right across London and featuring innovative shows, some of which incorporate a variety of languages.

Barons Court Theatre is a studio in the basement of a gorgeous neighbourhood pub, The Curtains Up, in the heart of West London, which is worth a visit on its own account. It is hosting a further nine original shows until the Festival ends on 24 November. Definitely worth checking out.

Gill Swain

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