The Scoop is the only theatre I know where an announcement is made before the performance asking you to keep your pets under control. This riverside, open-air amphitheatre at More London just off Tooley Street is now in its fourth season of free outdoor theatre, and it has a crowd-pleasing hit with this vivid new version of Euripides' only surviving comedy, a saytr play that probably has not been performed for 2,000 years.
Generally, I'm of the opinion that if a play hasn't been produced for 2,000 years there are probably good reasons for it, but Phil Willmott's version is so delightfully frisky that it brings the past to rude life and gives a unique twist to the tale of Odysseus's encounter with the one-eyed, man-eating giant.
Here Cyclops is a huge puppet, and he is served by a group of satyr goatmen who, after being shipwrecked on the giant's island, have been forced to become his slaves. They are badly in need of a hero, but as the heroes are all busy sacking Troy, it looks as if they will have to spend the rest of their lives wiping Cyclops's nose. But then Odysseus turns up - a slightly floppy chap clearly educated at a minor public school - and freedom seems possible.
Like a cross between a classy panto and a West End musical, Cyclops! is boisterous all-singing, all-dancing fun aimed at a family audience. It has some inspired touches, including a chorus of unlikely femmes fatales sheep and satyrs who behave like a Blazing Squad-style boy band. It is not subtle, but it is pitched just right for both the audience and space, lasts a bare hour and is free. An absolute pleasure, and a bargain.
· Performances take place at 6pm on September 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 & 14. At 7pm on September 17.
