The Royal Ballet & Opera House Artistic Director, Oliver Mears, is speaking out about the Palestinian protest on July 19 after he attempted to grab a Palestinian flag being unfurled by an actor during the curtain call.
In a recent internal email to the company obtained by the Times and Guardian, Mears described the entire incident as “a messy and unhappy situation.”
The letter also said that he had spent the last weeks reflecting on “what the ‘right thing to do’ was in those split seconds.” He added, “I could not allow the precedent of a public and individual protest during a show, which is why I acted as I did. Bringing the curtain in, with an unrehearsed through-tabs curtain call, would likely not have ended well either. Unfortunately, in the end I think there were simply no ‘good’ options: this was a messy and unhappy situation and not least because of that, I hope that I can have your understanding.”
Mears also noted in his email that he understood people’s feelings about Gaza and said, “As I was disgusted by the atrocities on 7 October, I am sick to my stomach by the images and reports coming out of Gaza…At the same time I believe that it is possible to hold political positions (which those who know me personally, know well) while also believing that a curtain call is not the time for a personal, impromptu political protest.”
He added that he believed that curtain calls are moments for audiences to thank artists for the performances, not for political statements.
The internal email came after 182 Royal Ballet and Opera members signed an open letter criticising the company’s silence on Gaza and for collaborating with teh Israeli Opera. The letter said they rejected “any current or future performances in Israel” and demanded it “withholds our productions from institutions that legitimise and economically support a state engaged in the mass killing of civilians.” Following the letter the Royal Ballet and Opera canceled its collaboration with the Israeli Opera for a production of “Tosca.”
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