Under the lights of Tower Bridge, the steps are still warm from the day's sun and the air is balmy. The crowd is an eclectic bunch: some have brought posh Chablis and cheese picnics, others have simply paused as they passed by, intrigued by the scene.
And it is an intriguing prospect: open-air theatre by the river's edge in a hugely evocative location in an expensive city, and it's free.
You can tell even before it begins that Phil Willmott's production of Aeschylus's Agamemnon is going to be friskily topical. Armed guards watch over us, brandishing machine guns with much menace, hours after announcements of heightened security fears in the US. They are actors, you realise with relief, in a version of the tragedy that productively compares the fall of Troy with the war in Iraq ("ruins and smoke", says Agamemnon in his victory speech, are all that remain after the battle). Agamemnon has a slight American accent and the greasy tricks of the political trade, removing his glasses on cue for the emotional heart of his slick speech.
This approach lends the production the accessibility crucial for such a diverse audience and such testing performance conditions, with the wind carrying sound away and the crowd noisily swelling and shrinking through the hour-long show.
There are weaknesses, including some overacting and heavy-handed moments - the whole cast doing slow-motion is one, and too many actors pop up in the audience - so it's never quite the gripping drama it should be. But it is visually captivating, with a couple of noteworthy performances (Stewart Alexander as Agamemnon and Kerry Skinner as Cassandra), and it is a welcome world away from the stuffiness and expense of mainstream theatre.
· Further performances from Aug 12 until September 5. Details: morelondon.com
