Three protesters from the climate justice group Extinction Rebellion boycotted the Broadway play “An Enemy of the People” on Thursday.
The first interruption came during a scene at City Hall featuring actor Jeremy Strong's character, according to a video by the group Published on X.
“There is no Broadway on a dead planet,” the activist is heard saying in the video. The activist was then seen being escorted off stage by some cast members, including Michael Imperioli.
Two other protesters later disrupted the play, which began its initial run at the Circle in the Square Theater in New York last month.
Extinction Rebellion uses peaceful civil disobedience to draw attention to climate change. Activists with the group blocked roads, stuck themselves together, and shut down airports for their cause.
In a press release, the group said the protesters “were warning that there is no theater on a dead planet, and demanding the right to peacefully protest against the use of fossil fuels.”
The play, a revival of Henrik Ibsen, follows a doctor (Strong) who discovers that the pigeons in his town are infected with a deadly disease. When he tries to speak publicly, the doctor faces opposition from his brother (Imprioli), the mayor of their city.
An Extinction Rebellion spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This play highlights that climate activists are not the enemy,” Laura Robinson, spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, said in the press release. “But why are we treated like this? Peaceful climate protesters are being accused as if they committed extreme acts of violence. This is not sustainable and this unacceptable”.
Extinction Rebellion identified Lydia Woolley, Nate Smith and Kyle Butler as the activists. All three echoed Robinson in the group's statement.
“We're not protesting the event itself, we're not protesting the stage, we're not protesting the emissions that brought the spectators to get here,” Woolley said. “That's not the point. We're here because we have to disrupt this public event as a last resort to draw public attention to the climate emergency we face today.”
Several theatergoers, including one journalist, posted about the turmoil at X.
“It was annoying, but that's the point,” said Moises Mendez II, a culture writer for Time magazine who was at the exhibit. The audience initially “thought this was part of the show,” but the room had an “uneasy tension” after subsequent disturbances, Mendez said.
Theatergoers online noted that Strong and Imperioli seemed to stay in character throughout the show.
Imperioli uploaded an Instagram post about the protest with the caption: “Tonight was wild… No hard feelings for the Extinction Rebellion crew. Michael is on your side but Mayor Stockman is not. Lots of love.”
Representatives for Strong and Imperioli did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Representatives of the “Enemy of the People” organization declined to comment.
