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Shopping and Fucking (sometimes billed as Shopping and F**king) is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995. It was performed in 1996 at the Royal Court Upstairs (located temporarily at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End), before embarking on a national and international tour, co-produced by Out of Joint and the Royal Court Theatre.

When first produced, Shopping and Fucking received mixed reviews. Some were shocked by the play's sexually violent content, which includes the pseudo-rape of an underage male by other males. Other critics were drawn to the play's black humour, and its mixture of Sadean and Marxist philosophies. Along with Sarah Kane's Blasted, it was a prime exemplar of British in-yer-face theatre of the 1990s.

Central themes

The sexual violence of Shopping and Fucking explores what is possible if consumerism supersedes all other moral codes. To this effect everything, including sex, violence and drugs, is reduced to a mere transaction in an age where shopping centres are the new cathedrals of Western consumerism.

Aspects of consumerism and sexuality rampant in popular culture recur throughout the play: drugs, shoplifting, phone sex, prostitution, anal sex and oral sex in the London department store Harvey Nichols.

The characters' names (Mark, Robbie and Gary) are taken from the Manchester boy band Take That, and from the singer Lulu who collaborated with them on their hit single Relight My Fire.

Theatrical productions

20-21 May 2013 - The Victoria, Swindon. Directed by Peter Hynds and Sarah Lewis. Produced by TS Theatre Productions. This production starred Ella Thomas as Lulu, David Paris Malham as Robbie, Pete Hynds as Mark, David John Phillips as Gary and Howard Trigg as Brian.
7 October-5 November 2016 - Lyric Hammersmith. Directed by Sean Holmes. Alphabetically, this production starred Alex Arnold as Robbie, Ashley McGuire as Brian, David Moorst as Gary, Sam Spruell as Mark and Sophie Wu as Lulu.
2 February 1998 - 17 March 1998 - New York Theatre Workshop. Directed by Gemma Bodinetz and Max Stafford-Clark. Torquil Campbell as Gary, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Mark, Jennifer Dundas Lowe as Lulu, Matthew Sussman as Brian and Justin Theroux as Robbie.^[1]^[2]^[3]

References

^ "Shopping and Fucking". New York Theatre Workshop. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
^ Hischak, Thomas S. (8 February 2001). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1969-2000. Oxford University Press. p. 416. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
^ Brantley, Ben (3 February 1998). "THEATER REVIEW; A Shocker That Aims To Preach". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2018.

External links

Archived production: Shopping and Fucking at Out of Joint.
Ravenhill 10. The Pinter Centre for Performance and Creative Writing. Goldsmith's College, University of London. November 11-November 12, 2006. (Symposium marking the 10th anniversary of the first production of Shopping and Fucking.)
TS Theatre productions version on YouTube

[1] "Shopping and Fucking". New York Theatre Workshop. Retrieved 9 December 2018.

[2] Hischak, Thomas S. (8 February 2001). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1969-2000. Oxford University Press. p. 416. Retrieved 9 December 2018.

[3] Brantley, Ben (3 February 1998). "THEATER REVIEW; A Shocker That Aims To Preach". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2018.

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 ==Theatrical productions==
-* '''20-21 May 2013''' - The Victoria, Swindon.  Directed by Peter Hynds and Sarah Lewis.  Produced by TS Theatre Productions. This production starred Ella Thomas as Lulu, David Paris Malham as Robbie, Pete Hynds as Mark, David John Phillips as Gary and Howard Trigg as Brian.
+* '''20-21 May 2013''' - The Victoria, Swindon.  Directed by Peter Hynds and Sarah Lewis.  Produced by TS Theatre Productions. This production starred [[Ella Thomas]] as Lulu, David Paris Malham as Robbie, Pete Hynds as Mark, David John Phillips as Gary and Howard Trigg as Brian.
-* '''7 October-5 November 2016''' - Lyric Hammersmith. Directed by Sean Holmes. Alphabetically, this production starred Alex Arnold as Robbie, Ashley McGuire as Brian, David Moorst as Gary, Sam Spruell as Mark and Sophie Wu as Lulu.
+* '''7 October-5 November 2016''' - Lyric Hammersmith. Directed by Sean Holmes. Alphabetically, this production starred Alex Arnold as Robbie, Ashley McGuire as Brian, David Moorst as Gary, [[Sam Spruell]] as Mark and [[Sophie Wu]] as Lulu.
 * '''2 February 1998 - 17 March 1998''' - [[New York Theatre Workshop]].  Directed by Gemma Bodinetz and [[Max Stafford-Clark]]. [[Torquil Campbell]] as Gary, [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] as Mark, Jennifer Dundas Lowe as Lulu, [[Matthew Sussman]] as Brian and [[Justin Theroux]] as Robbie.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shopping and Fucking |url=https://www.nytw.org/show/shopping-and-fucking/ |publisher=New York Theatre Workshop |accessdate=9 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hischak |first1=Thomas S. |title=American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1969-2000 |date=8 February 2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=416 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/American_Theatre.html?id=1aSM__nVScAC&redir_esc=y |accessdate=9 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brantley |first1=Ben |title=THEATER REVIEW; A Shocker That Aims To Preach |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/03/theater/theater-review-a-shocker-that-aims-to-preach.html |accessdate=9 December 2018 |work=New York Times |date=3 February 1998}}</ref>