During a performance of Les Miserables, a group of protesters from Just Stop Oil brought the show to a halt. The group entered the stage and asked the audience to “join the rebellion.” The Metropolitan police arrived and arrested five people. Just Stop Oil is an environmental activist group known for staging demonstrations at public events, such as tennis matches at Wimbledon.
The group appeared during the performance of the show’s famous song One Day More, holding up orange banners with their logo. After attempting to continue, the show’s cast was escorted offstage. Just Stop Oil tweeted that four people had “locked” themselves to the stage. In the tweet, the group quoted the protagonist in Les Miserables, Valjean, saying, “Valjean steals bread to feed a starving child. How long before we are all forced to steal?” The group also said, “The fossil fuel show can’t go on.”
The performance was stopped, and the theatre was evacuated. William Village, CEO of Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, which owns the Sondheim, where Les Miserables is currently playing, said “safety protocols” had to be followed, and “the audience were asked to leave the auditorium and the Met Police attended.” The remaining part of the performance was canceled. Just Stop Oil’s ultimate aim is to “demand that the UK government stop licensing all new oil, gas, and coal projects.”
Just Stop Oil member Hanan explained in a video why she and the group had chosen to target the production. “Les Mis is about the June Rebellion, where ordinary people stood up [and] organised themselves against a government that consistently showed no interest in their wellbeing,” he said. She criticized Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for approving “hundreds of gas and oil licenses, knowing the full consequences this will have on our climate and our society.”
While recognizing the importance of free expression, Village emphasized that the enjoyment of the event for which the audience paid also needs respect. The protest had resulted in an “insufficient performance” and “regrettably, there was insufficient time to enable us to complete the rest of the performance.
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