A Bit of Bomb-Disarming and a Scoop

Venue: The Scoop (http://www.morelondon.com/scoop.html)

Oyster: London Bridge

A couple of days after I decided on my campaign to embrace freeganism, I discovered that a highly relevant event had been taking place right under my nose and was – much to my outrage – just about to finish. Four long months of free comedy, dance, drama, film and general entertainment had passed through outdoor amphitheatre The Scoop as part of More London’s Free Festival. It looks like someone had been thinking along the same lines as me and was offering us long-suffering poverty-stricken Londoners a summer-long solution. Although it would have been wonderful to witness and vent on it all, I only managed to catch the tail end of the festival, my experience limited to just one night of it in the second-last week.

They certainly didn’t need a blogger to promote this alfresco cinema spectacular. Hundreds of people flooded into this beautiful structure and took their seats for the outdoor riverside premiere of Oscar-winning nerve-jangler The Hurt Locker. In fact, so busy and well-publicised was the event that even though we were over an hour early, we were forced to take-up an undignified station on the floor at the front – much like children at a magic show. The knowing early-birds reclined mockingly on the stone benches cut into the structure – but to be honest, I think that after the first 30mins we were all equally uncomfortable, despite position or provisions of cushions and scarves.

Stiff limbs and constant repositioning aside, the evening was a rare delight and thankfully the late September day resisted raining on us (contrary to most of my outdoor screening/ play-watching experiences, mainly at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.) If you haven’t seen this film, it really is worth a look.  I was on the edge of my seat/ patch of ground for the whole two and however many hours. We follow the reckless lives of a US army bomb-disarming squad in the midst of the Iraqi conflict.  

All the way through I was sweating along with the characters, adrenaline pumping around my body in time to the tense and frantic plot twists. Here’s Sergeant Sanborn (AKA Anthony Mackie) from my advantageous - though neck-aching - position.

And the night turned out to be more of a Scoop than I could have hoped for. More London regularly organise free events at their Thames-side venue; check out their events page - http://www.morelondon.com/events.asp. I’ve already pencilled The Christmas Carol into my diary – though even more layers will be needed for that performance I fear! Who could resist a free night under the stars with views like this?