Women of Troy, The Scoop **

It is hard to have an objective view on a production. Multiple elements like your mood at the time, the seat your sitting and the price of a ticket impact your view on a show. Therefore, I find it difficult to be critical of The Scoop as their setup is very noble and ambitious. However, I have to say that Women of Troy was plain boring. Lisa Kuma has adapted Euripides' Trojan War plays in a way that feels long-winded and dull. The first half is spent with the debate over the death of Iphigenia between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra that has no buzz or tension to it. When you feel apathetic at the ultimate death, you know these actors have not done their job properly. The second half picks up some pace and captures the idea of the brutality of humanity yet never feels quite right. There are wobbly links as far as the acting goes but Ursula Mohan, Hannah Kerin and Terence Frisch are three notably good performances. The rest range in performances from middling to bad. Unfortunately, it comes at an inconvenient time when many of these Greeks are being portrayed at other theatres with larger budgets, with shows like Oresteia at the Almeida showing the same events with such skill and brilliance. Whilst the motive of this enterprise is fantastic, the quality needs to be better so that people aren't alienated from theatre.

Captain Show Off, The Scoop ***

Free theatre is a rare and brilliant thing and this is the 13th year this has happened at the scoop. This latest play is an adaptation of a Plautus comedy that is very similar to the plot of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, right down to the diamond necklace. Touched up with some Frankie Howerd cum Carry On humour and musicals that pastiche 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum', 'West Side Story' and 'Les Mis', this comedy provides some (if limited) interest for adults even if it mainly plays for kids. Some of the innuendo, especially the 'happy stick', is too much and overtly crude however it appeared to wash over the children's heads and they seemed to enjoy the silly and overacted nature of Wilmott's production. The interactivity is the funniest part of this, however, with a child having a bowl of orange stuff being dumped on his head reducing me to hysterics. Whilst I have seen better shows for children, it is impressive that the scoop can provide a production of this quality on a budget from donations and the effect is that children from a wider background will be able to have access to the classics and to theatre in general.

The Ring Cycle, The Scoop ***

The Cast of The Ring Cycle

One of the many things that astound me about theatre in London is the varying price levels you pay to see it. You can get £5 tickets to the Globe and National to £125 to see the Book of Mormon and Skylight. However, the More London festival has taken it to new extremes by giving us free theatre. Now in it's 12th year, an adaptation of Wagners masterpiece has been transposed to a 4 short plays in the scoop. Whilst by no means great, this performance is astounding in the feat free theatre can achieve. A quote from the Evening Standard said it was "Grittier than the Globe." Now, I'm not sure if they have seen Titus Andronicus there but I can assure you this production or arena can not compete with the West End. When I saw King Lear yesterday I talked of amateur acting, but even the worst of them are like Laurence Olivier to these actors. However, it brings theatre to a whole new audience and for that it must be thanked.