Reverend Billy and his Gospel Choir of Stop Shopping, Exeter Phoenix, Tuesday 26th May, 8pm
If you feel we’re suffering from shopping overload, if you’re concerned about a world rife with global advertising, multi national control, global warming, packaging, supermarket domination, TV merchandising and all the rest of rampant free marketeering in a profit driven wicked and dirty world – then help is at hand my friends.
This is your antidote to the devils that plague us. Come one, come all, bring friends family, children all welcome. An evening that will delight and charm even the most hardened devotee of the shopping culture. Hallelujah!
Hailing from New York, the Church Of Life After Shopping was recently the focus of a documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me).
It is a project of The Immediate Life, an world renowned arts organisation which uses theatre, humour and grass roots organising to advance individuals and communities towards a more equitable future, preserving vibrant communities and local economies.
Reverend Billy and his magnificent Gospel Choir of Stop Shopping will sing, preach, charm, berate, seduce and rescue you. All in one evening.
Whether performing on the street, stage, film or TV, the irrepressible Gospel Choir of Stop Shopping can conjure soaring harmonies lovely enough to convert even the most jaded consumer into a stop shopping true believer.
The all-ages choir of 35 represents a diverse array of economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds and includes a member from every continent except Antartica (but they’re working on it). They are mums, activists, cyclists, worshippers, pagans, bakers, park-lovers, tech-geeks, tinkerers, campers, gardeners, nerds, actors, athletes, executives, hairdressers, designers and more.
Led by theatrical director Savitri Durkee, Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping has led successful direct action and organized campaigns against Victoria’s Secret/Limited Brands, Starbucks Coffee Company and The City of New York.
The Church of Life After Shopping believes that Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. The corporations want us to have experiences only through their products. Our neighbourhoods, parks and streets and libraries, are disappearing into the corporate world of big boxes and chain stores.
The Church of Life After Shopping believes in supporting and advocating for sustainable consumption, encouraging and establishing strong local economies, defending free speech, peaceful assembly and public space.
Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir are singing and preaching for local economies and real – not mediated through products – experience.
Since 1996 the project has expanded from a one-man performance artist preaching against consumerism on the sidewalks of Times Square to a 35-person choir and seven-person band with dozens of original songs, a critically acclaimed stage show, a major motion picture and multiple media platforms.
The Church Of Life has demonstrated commitment to educating the public about the consequences of unsustainable consumption.
Their message – consuming less – is the single most effective and immediate response an individual can make towards halting the climate crisis. This same message has reached millions of people and has contributed to the public’s increasing awareness of the relationship between shopping and climate change.
Besides a long-term commitment to promoting sustainable consumption, the organisation’s efforts to revitalize public space and defend the first amendment have been documented all over the world.
Tickets cost £9/£7 (conc) or £5 for under 16s, and are available from Exeter Phoenix by calling the box office on 01392 667080 or online at www.exeterphoenix.org. Doors open at 8pm.