Metropolitan Opera drops curtain on climate protest

Members of Extinction Rebellion broke into a performance of Wagner’s Tannhauser at the Metropolitan Opera last night.

They time their disruption for the middle of the second act, where Tannhäuser sings about a spring. Three people on balconies either side of the house simultaneously unfurled banners at 9.30pm reading ‘No Opera on a Dead Planet’ and shouting slogans.

Met officials ordered the curtain to be brought down. Security men removed two individuals and the performance resumed at 9.45.

One of the protesters was named on the Hyperallergic website as a New York musician,John Mark Rozendaal.

Climate change protesters interrupted a Met Opera premiere tonight pic.twitter.com/5bN0pRvlJU

— godfather (@Truthgodfather) December 1, 2023