London: Special Benefit Performance for Gaza Emergency Appeal

There's a chance to see Justin Butcher's The Devil's Passion in a special benefit performance for the Amos Trust Emergency Appeal for Gaza at the Union Chapel, London, on Palm Sunday 24th March. 50% of ticket sales will go to the Emergency Appeal.

The show has been on tour in Italy and Malta for the last three weeks. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, 26th & 27th of March it will be at All Saint's Anglican Church in Rome.

Justine Butcher writes: 'The tragic events now unfolding in Israel-Palestine reminded me of this short piece I was asked to write about the play back in 2015... In 2015, I attempted to write a play which would draw together my lifelong fascination with the Passion story, my appetite for political satire and my immersion for many years in the Palestinian people's struggle for freedom, justice and equality in the Holy Land. The result was The Devil's Passion - a passion play set in an Occupied Palestine, and told by the devil.

'Part espionage thriller, part satire, part poetic meditation - a kind of 'Homeland' meets 'Mistero Buffo' meets Dante's 'Inferno' - set in a 'Holy Land' characterised by harsh divisions, barriers, walls, alienation - a state of affairs which the diabolical narrator finds entirely satisfactory. Until, right from the heart of this suffocating, intractable scenario, the Passion story erupts. A radical, transgressive story of love transcending fear and hatred, of non-violence in the face of oppression, hope breaking down barriers, the victory of vulnerability.'

The show has received very good reviews:

MARK LAWSON writes in THE TABLET: 'Radical and provocative: a devilishly clever retelling of the Easter Story.'

'Sophisticated, satirical and highly recommended … part espionage thriller, part spiritual epic: funny, moving and profound, with the biting wit of The Screwtape Letters and the scope and depth of Paradise Lost.' JONTY LANGLY writes in PREMIER CHRISTIANITY

'The nuance of Butcher's writing and the intelligence and rigour of its theology make The Devil's Passion such a worthwhile and forceful piece of theatre, deeply engaged with a radical conception of spiritual reconciliation … theological expansiveness and fascinating elasticity of thought.' THE STAGE

'There are not many actors currently alive, let alone in the Fringe, who can play Jesus, and Judas, and the Devil, in the same performance and get away with it. And Justin Butcher does … with clarity, precision and a mastery of the craft. He is a privilege to watch. There is a reason the gospel is told again and again in media. There are subtle meanings, new voices, modern ideas to be read into it, old ideas which have new meaning, even if the structure stays the same. The Devil's Passion is a great example of why we shouldn't be afraid of doing it.' 4 STARS - George Lea, BROADWAY BABY

'Butcher dances these scenes exquisitely ... breathtaking, fluid and haunting.' 5 STARS - Catherine Lamm, BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

'Thrilling, searing … Justin Butcher's excellent and profoundly moving The Devil's Passion plays at the Assembly George Square Studios … A profound meditation on Christ's Gospel of Love and Solidarity, enacted with a deceptive directness and simplicity which conceals its great theological and dramaturgical depths. The Devil's Passion is a coup de théâtre. I urge you to see it.' Philip Crispin, INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS

To book tickets see: https://unionchapel.gigantic.com/the-devil-s-passion-tickets/london-union-chapel/2024-03-24-18-30

For individual tickets, use the discount code PASSION24 to access a 15% discount.

For groups of five, use the code PASSION10 to access a group bundle of 5 tickets for £50.

LINKS

View trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Upw6C3nGKM

The Devil's Passion: www.justinbutcher.co.uk/devilspassion/

Amos Trust Emergency Appeal: www.amostrust.org/give/emergency-appeal-for-gaza/

The Devil's Passion takes place on Palm Sunday, 24th March at 7.30pm in the Union Chapel, Islington, 19b Compton Terrace London N1 2UN.