Toyah Willcox musical to play free open air festival

A brand new musical retelling of Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment, will be staged at The Scoop in London this summer.

Adapted and directed by Phil Willmott, the musical will feature original music by Toyah Willcox and Simon Darlow, as well as some of Willcox's well-known tracks.

Crime & Punishment: A Rock Musical will be part of the free open air theatre season, held annually at The Scoop, next to City Hall on the south side of the River Thames.

Published in 1866, Dostoyeksky’s Crime and Punishment tells of a ruthless money lender who terrorises the poor of St. Petersburg, Russia. When he is killed by an idealistic student, the novel asks if murder is ever justified.

Willcox's songwriting career has spanned 30 years and includes eight Top 40 singles including "It's a Mystery", "Thunder in the Mountains" and "I Want to Be Free".

On the new musical, she said: "Who could resist this chance to help introduce theatre-goers, great literature and steampunk all in the one show, performed for free to such a huge and multi-cultural audience, in this iconic, beautiful venue?

"Capturing the spirit of Dostoyevsky’s alienated characters has been a wonderful challenge and I'm excited that this collaboration will engage tens of thousands of people with this extraordinary novel in so fresh and enticing a way and is totally fitting with my musical work."

Crime & Punishment: A Rock Musical runs at The Scoop from 31 August to 25 September.