The Opera Group - Edward Rushton - The Shops

Edward Rushton's The Shops, with a libretto by Dagny Gioulami, has been described as 'part satire on rampant consumerism, part psychological thriller': its central character, Christoph Schmalhans, is an obsessive stamp collector, stealing prize examples from museums with the aid of his girlfriend Francesca, who distracts attention by causing scenes. His activities inevitably attract the interest of the police and psychologists, and interjections from a support group of shopaholics.