one4review | On 28, Aug 2026

Back in medieval Bavaria everyone wanted to be one of two things – a cool spooky witch or a cool spooky witch hunter. At least, that’s the premise of Nuns! a new comedy from Dog Complex Theatre in collaboration with long-time Fringe Favourites Police Cops.

Sister Gertrude (Hannah Rogerson), an orphan raised in a nunnery has one goal – to rid the world of sinful people and sinful thoughts (particularly her own). Teaming up with novice witch hunter Yarrow(Hebe Bartlett) who may have a secret magical trick or two hidden up her sleeve, Gertrude plans to meet up with famed witch hater (and definitely not misogynist) Bishop Carmichael (Lili Herbert) and get to making some big bad girl bonfires. But as their journey continues Gertrude starts to have doubts about whether she’s actually doing the holy thing and whether or not witches are all that wicked.

Anyone aware of the fantastic oeuvre of shows from Police Cops will find this show instantly familiar, with the same butter-smooth choreography mixing dance and physical theatre (often involving a lot of running in place), silly jokes and clever uses of silly costumes and props. And that’s not unexpected with direction from Police Cops’ own Zachary Hunt. Even the plot of “underdog prodigy X teams up with outcast Y to reach dream of becoming the best Z” is basically applicable to all Police Cops shows, but then it’s also a classic formula that ain’t broke and don’t need fixing. But the real hallmark of a Police Cops production and the true thing that makes this its sister show (pun both unavoidable and intentional) is polish. Everything is rehearsed, choreographed, re-rehearsed, edited and perfected and it really, really shows in the quality of the final product which has no fat left on it at all, just an incredibly densely packed ball of great jokes and action.

And it should be said that, while reminiscent of Police Cops, Dog Complex bring a lot of their own uniqueness to the story incorporating songs, circus skills and, perhaps unsurprisingly, magic, which is spaced out so well that the tricks have a massive impact on a crowd not expecting them including one particular one near the end which completely blindsided me with how effective it was done.

An easy to recommend to anyone who wants high-quality sketch/theatre comedy and almost certainly soon to be a cult success in its own right, this is a great debut show from a company that I only expect to go from strength to strength as they continue and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

*****
Reviewed by Tom
Assembly George Square Studios
Until 31 August