An audience at a pantomime usually know what they're getting themselves into. But while PO PO MO CO deliver the staples ("It's behind you!"), no one could ever predict the tale of Nosfer-ARSE-tu.
Mish-mashing a plethora of camp comedy inspiration, Nosfer-ARSE-tu is a Frankensteinian hybrid of Rocky Horror, Little Shop Of Horrors and Are You Being Served, all melded together into an hour of weird comic genius. The classic setting of a dark and stormy night leads to this cavalcade of characters getting into some very sticky situations, all while a literally butt-faced vampire is looming in the distance.
By going all out, PO PO MO CO have made what could easily be an exhausting premise one of the most enjoyable shows of the festival. It's like a Carry On film ripped into an Andy Warhol fever dream, and the crowd absolutely love it. This is one of those shows where the audience have to be on board for it to work, and from the moment they're greeted by the sexy Nurse Regina on the way in, they're ready to set sail on the good ship Nosfer-ARSE-tu. Every single character is as gloriously un-nuanced as pompous caricatures of exploitation-era film. From David Maney's character of The Doctor, looking for a night of devilish homosexual fun, to Claire Sullivan's Snow White style witch, complete with not so Snow White style magical genitals. It's silly, it's spooky, and it's downright fun.
Give yourself over to absolute pleasure and bask in the ridiculousness that PO PO MO CO have to offer. It's a tough one to truly define, but whatever it is, there's absolutely nothing else like it.
PO PO MO CO presents Nosfer-ARSE-tu until 22 Apr at Trades Hall, part of the 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
