Consumo Must Go! (skit) |
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Consumo
Overlord of Overconsumption
Sexy...
Contented...
Powerful...
Wealthy...
The Enemy...
and Worshipped
by US!
CONSUMO MUST GO!
Consumo Must Go!
A Skit about Simple Living for Teens and/or Adults
Characters
Consumo, Overlord of Overconsumption
Slim
Chorus (5-10)
Costumes
Consumo: Santa hat, dark glasses, T-shirt with large C on chest, cape smothered with well-known commercial logos (clipped from magazines), big Santa boots, loud colored boxer trunks or slacks
Slim: Plain shirt and slacks; nothing trendy, no logos, nothing obviously male or female (no dresses)
Chorus: everyday clothes with some well-known commercial logos (clipped from magazines) attached with tape
Tone
Consumo: seductive, sometimes forceful.
Slim: matter-of-fact, caring, not preachy, legalistic or know-it-all. All speak slowly, clearly.
Notes
All attendees receive a flyer --
10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas -- as they enter or, preferably, as they leave; also post the flyer in prominent places.
If you have a resource person, follow the skit with discussion of 10 Tips or Voluntary Simplicity.
If presented during a worship service or a larger event, use resources on this site for ideas for the event, such as songs/hymns, displays, alternative giving offering, etc.
Script
Chorus [enters marching, chanting loudly]: Consumo rules! [10 times]
Consumo enters, moving back and forth in front of audience with hands on hips.
Chorus continues intensely but more quietly.
Consumo: [large inviting arm gestures; voice first an intense whisper, then big crescendo, rhythmic chanting] Buy! Buy! Buy More! Buy! Buy! Buy More!
Chorus and Consumo continue loudly. C stops center stage, facing audience, feet apart, hands on hips (typical superhero stance), with a satisfied but not mean smile [chorus falls silent]
Consumo: [proudly, gestures focus on self] I'm Con-SU-mo, Overlord of Overconsumption.
Chorus: Consumo rules!
Consumo: I'm worshipped by everybody in North America. (Well, at least everybody who matters.) I'm also called 'Big C' [underscores that 'C' on the uniform]. I can appear in many guises, as a woman, a man, a child--even as Santa Claus. I AM the national god of North America.
Chorus: Consumo rules!
Consumo: I'm supported by Big Business and government. My motto is 'Grow the Economy at any cost!'
My worshippers have an attitude, an attitude based on fads and sex appeal, the lifestyle of the privileged.
[Large inviting arm gestures, pacing back and forth; voice first an intense whisper, then big crescendo, rhythmic chanting] Buy! Buy! Buy More! Buy! Buy! Buy More!
Chorus: Consumo rules!
Consumo: [Back to center stage; gestures again focus on self] My worshippers celebrate a high holy season called Con-SOOM-us. Consumas, which is sometimes mistaken for [disdain or condescension in voice] Christmas by some, is known as [reveling] 'The REALLY Big Con.'
Consumo and chorus: [rhythmic chanting] Buy! Buy! Buy More! Buy! Buy! Buy More!
Consumo: [condescendingly] My in-con-se-quen-tial opposition is by a small group who follow a person known as Slim [laughs, shakes head]. What a name. . . Slim. [holding back another laugh] Come on out, Slim. [gestures magnanimously]
Slim enters, stands stage left, simple wave, at ease, but not 'cool': Hi.
Chorus: Slim is BOring. [snide tone, playground chant, 10 times, starts quietly, gets louder]
Consumo: Shh, shh. [False generosity] Let the little guy talk. [chorus falls silent]
Slim: [Nodding to the chorus] Thanks. I was born in 1973. My name -- Slim -- stands for 'Simple Living Is More,' S-L-I-M, Simple Living Is More. My followers are sometimes called Simple Livers. They read books like 'Living More with Less.' Almost everybody likes me, even the worshippers of Big C agree with me. But they think my way is boring and they live according to Big C.
Chorus: Slim is BOring. [playground chant]
Consumo: Shh, shh. [quieting arm and hand gestures, with a smirk; chorus falls silent]
Slim: I'm supported by virtually all the major religions of the world. Big C is promoted by a very wealthy and powerful advertising and entertainment industry.
Chorus: HOLLYWOOD!
Slim: My way -- Simple Living -- is promoted by a small group of organizations and individuals who believe that the way of Big C is destroying our world.
[Consumo/Slim give-and-take; brief pause after each exchange]
Consumo: [self-satisfied] I buy whatever I want whenever I want it -- because I can.
Chorus: Yah!
Slim: Live simply that others may simply live.
Chorus: [silence]
Consumo: Debt is good! Stress is fun!
Chorus: Huh?
Slim: There's enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed.
Consumo: Shop till you drop.
Chorus: Yah, right.
Slim: If we don't need it, it isn't a bargain.
Chorus: Well?
Consumo: What's another tree or two? What's a couple of species?
Chorus: silence
Slim: Care for all Creation. [counting four points on fingers] Reduce, reuse, recycle and restore.
Consumo: Eat, drink and be merry -- 'cause this is all there is. The guy who dies with the most toys, wins.
Chorus: Huh?
Slim: Let's support the needy and spend less on ourselves.
Chorus: We love Slim! [10 times, one person begins hesitantly, others join in, get louder, more confident]
Slim: [chorus falls silent; Slim speaks more intensely than before] North Americans report that they're no happier now than in the 1950's, though our consuming has doubled. Over consumption is destroying our world, and it doesn't work! Voluntary Simplicity does! It reduces the stress on the Earth and on us. Choosing to live simply allows us to stop working MORE to make MORE money to consume MORE stuff. Simplicity works toward sustainability and lengthens the number of years that the Earth can provide for us humans and all creatures. It brings happiness, not deprivation.
There are hundreds of things we can do to simplify our lives for our own personal happiness, for the sake of needy people around the world and to care for all of God's Creation. Here are just a few. [Select from the appropriate list: 10 Tips: Christmas, for fall presentations; 10 Tips: Easter, for Jan.-April; 10 Tips: General, for other times.]
[Consumo shakes head, gestures no-no with both hands throughout, throws words of ridicule, first confidently, then nervously, such as 'Won't work!' 'Ridiculous!' [throwing up hands] 'Oh yah! right!' 'We can do as we please!' 'Nobody's going to tell us how to live!' 'This world is ours to conquer and dominate!' [jabbing with finger]
Chorus: [Shows growing interest in Slim's ideas; when Slim's finished, 5 seconds of silence]
Consumo must go! [one strong voice, followed by all, loudly and confidently, 10-25 times; marching through audience pulling the logos off their clothes and wadding them or tearing them with grand gestures but not littering; Consumo and Slim do not leave their posts.]
Slim: Please, [chorus falls silent] please read the flyer you received/will receive. We all can choose. We can live with more stuff and less happiness, OR we can live with MORE JOY and LESS STUFF.
[Lights down, all exit. Consumo is not chased away nor is Slim carried away a hero/ine.]
Optional: 1) Discussion of 10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas
or Voluntary Simplicity.
2) Offering to help a needy individual or group. (Must not dull the urgency of the skit.)
3) Prayer or group pledge, e.g., 'I vow to live more simply that others may simply live.'
by Gerald Iversen | Get to know Gerald here.
©Creative Commons (originally 1999 Alternatives for Simple Living, Sioux City, IA) SimpleLivingWorks.org (recycled paper)
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Page updated 16 Jan. 2014
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