Multiple protesters interrupted a Broadway show with messages about rising sea water and fossil fuels, prompting responses from both of the show’s stars, Michael Imperioli and Jeremy Strong.
The show called “An Enemy of the People,” which sometimes involves audience participation, was halted by the activists causing confusion among ticket holders. Three protesters shouted slogans such as, “No theater on a dead planet!” with T-shirts sporting the same phrase.
One activist even walked onto the stage and started a diatribe.
“I am very, very sorry to interrupt your night and this amazing performance. I am a theater artist,” the man began. “The oceans are rising. It will swallow this city and this entire theater whole. I am putting my career on the line because we are not doing anything about this crisis. The water is coming for us!” he added, according to the New York Post.
“Sopranos” star Imperioli would be heard shouting, “Go back to drama school!”
Strong, from the show “Succession,” reportedly remained in character and said, “Let them speak.”
In another clip posted to X, Imperioli is seen walking off stage as he tells one of the protesters, “You are disgusting!”
“Liar, liar!” he added as he walked out of frame.
“Governments have failed us! They will do anything to stop you from learning the truth!” another climate alarmist yelled.
Then, Strong interjected and started yelling back, “You’ve got to go, you’ve got to go!” which sparked applause from the audience.
Activist group Extinction Rebellion took credit for the interruption, citing that “Rebels disrupted #AnEnemyOfThePeople on #Broadway. #Climate activists aren’t the enemy; it’s fossil fuel criminals like Exxon & Chevron. If we don’t #EndFossilFuels now, there’ll be #NoTheatreOnADeadPlanet.”
This was followed by a press release justifying their actions, which was written as if the group was promoting a product rather than a public nuisance.
“This action follows a tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience in arts and theater, such as Parisian students’ occupation of the Odéon theatre in 1968 — not to mention theater itself as a powerful medium for provoking social change,” the group wrote.
“Just as ‘An Enemy of the People’ demands people act, Extinction Rebellion too is demanding immediate action … Extinction Rebellion demands the government tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. These demands reflect the urgency of the existential crisis that we’re facing.”
Strangely, one activist made a point of specifically saying that she was “not protesting theater” and not “protesting the emissions that brought spectators to get here.” However, she still claimed the interruption was the group’s “last resort to draw public attention to the climate emergency.”
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