Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

shell-sponsored play closed at national theatre

rikki | 05.01.2009 22:12 | Climate Chaos | Ecology | Energy Crisis

yesterday saw the last performance of the run of sophocles' oedipus at the national theatre. it has been met by continued stunts from the 'artnotoil' group, including a spoof press release, mass leafletting of theatre-goers, and on saturday, an impromptu performance in the foyer

on saturday, 'artnotoil' activists put on an impromptu performance in the foyer of the national theatre prior to the matinee performance of shell-sponsored 'oedipus'.

while a singer took to the stage (where there was a conveniently placed live microphone), another activist handed out leaflets, including a glossy spoof that looked like the national theatre was inviting an open discussion about the morality of accepting oil company sponsorship. a third person joined in on a trumpet as security guards surrounded the singer.

after making their point, and some noise, for a few minutes, they ended the protest peacefully, to a gratifying round of applause from the theatre-goers who had watched the performance with interest.

after being ejected from the building, the three activists continued to leaflet late-comers outside the main doors. the response was generally good.

this short film of the action is available in wmv and mp4 formats (mp4 can be read by the excellent free cross-platform player 'vlc' - a free download from videolan)

rikki
- e-mail: rikkiindymedia[@t]gmail(d0t)com
- Homepage: http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com

Additions

Shell Sells Suicide in the NT Foyer

06.01.2009 18:55

Here are the words to the song sung blue in the NT foyer:

'there’s a bird dressed in black
there’s a world nearly cracked
there is me, there is you -
what the hell shall we do?

it’s not hard to explain
all the ways we can gain
from a world without oil
no more spills, no more spoils

Shell sells suicide on the forecourt
Shell sells suicide
Shell sells suicide with such forethought
Shells sells suicide

(Verse from a Shell AGM:)
there I stood with one share
asking Shell - could it care?
when I knew it could not -
of Big Oil let's get shot

Shell smells sweet gas off the seashore in Mayo
they think it’s theirs just ‘cos the government says so
but they forgot about the will of the people
and the people of Mayo say ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no -
it’s Shell that’s got to go!’

here I stand by the river
asking it what it plans to deliver
‘will you dump a hundred thousand tonnes of water
into the foyer of this Shell-sponsored theatre?’
the beauty of that irony I can live without

there’s a bird dressed in black
there’s a world nearly cracked
there is me, there is you
what the hell shall we do?

(Verse for Jan 4th ’09, sung outside the day after the foyer intervention):
Monday 4th of January, nineteen ninety three,
Ken Saro-Wiwa said the people of the Delta must be free
Sunday 4th of January twenty oh-nine
it surely must be time
to stop Shell’s climate crimes

And an alternate verse:
Shell buys South Bank silence completely
Shell sells wild lies
Shell kills wildlife and still smiles so sweetly
Shell kills wildlife...'
-----------------
Here's more on Ogoni Day:

'on 4th January 1993, some 300,000 Ogoni celebrated the Year of Indigenous Peoples by peacefully protesting against Shell's activities and the environmental destruction of Ogoniland. It remains the largest demonstration against an oil company ever. "We have woken up to find our lands devastated by agents of death called oil companies. Our atmosphere has been totally polluted, our lands degraded, our waters contaminated, our trees poisoned, so much so that our flora and fauna have virtually disappeared", said an Ogoni leader to the crowd. 4th January became known as Ogoni Day.'
( http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/struggle.htm)

Jan 4th is also the date the head office of Shell UK in 1999 was occupied - ten years to the day!
 http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no8/shell.html

Carbon Town Cryer
- Homepage: http://www.myspace.com/carbontowncryer


Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

Nice one

06.01.2009 14:30

Enjoyed watching this, thanks. Well done art not oil peeps.

anon


Who to tell about Shell, and some evidence

08.01.2009 00:03

If you think Shell's out of order as a company, and an inappropriate sponsor for a series of 'Classic Drama' at the UK's most presitigious theatre, maybe drop a polite line to these fellas:

Nick Starr:  nstarr@nationaltheatre.co.uk

Nicholas Hytner:  nhytner@nationaltheatreorg.uk

cc.  info@nationaltheatre.org.uk

& bcc.

 info@artnotoil.org.uk

PS. Here is some evidence, with a little commentary, but your own words will be more effective:

Despite ploughing serious money into cultural sponsorship and advertising
campaigns that trumpet their greener-than-thou credentials, both Shell
and BP are still going hell for leather to bring as much oil and gas to
market as they possibly can. This is the same oil and gas that, when burnt,
is destabilising our climate to such an alarming degree. All oil companies
are up to no good, with Shell no exception. Could it be time to say ‘enough!’?

* ‘Shell rapped by ASA for 'greenwash' advert’: “Oil company's claim that its
work in Alberta's tar sands was 'sustainable' is branded 'misleading' by
Advertising Standards Authority”, (Gdn, 13.8.08); www.carbonweb.org

* In the 3rd quarter of 2008, Shell made £72m per day.

* Shell’s planned refinery/pipeline project in NW Ireland, threatens a
pristine ecosystem, not to mention the homes and livelihoods of the
inhabitants. A spirited local campaign is resisting the project; corribsos.com

* ‘Pentagon Hands Iraq Oil Deal to Shell’, www.alternet.org, 2.10.08

* Shell is poised to drill in the newly-melted waters of the Chukchi Sea off
Alaska; www.subhankarbanerjee.org

* ‘Shell Ordered to Stop Wasteful, Poisonous Gas Flaring in Nigeria’
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1115-02.htm

* Lastly, Shell’s Sakhalin development in Russia is threatening the survival
of the Western Pacific Grey Whale; www.pacificenvironment.org

Mr. Starr's Apoplectic


Good stuff

08.01.2009 14:16

This was really well presented, nice work. The documentation is really important too, cos that can really spread your tactical media in unexpected ways beyond the event itself or indy/mass press coverage.

If you've got the know-how, cutting a few of those facts and figures into the video and whacking it on youtube tagged with SHELL wouldn't hurt.

Jim


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech