Four protesters locked themselves to the stage at London’s Sondheim Theatre while Les Miserables was being performed.
The protest began at around 8.50pm during the powerful song Do You Hear The People Sing?
🚨 BREAKING: Just Stop Oil interrupt Les Mis.
🦺 4 people are locked to the stage of the French-revolution-themed show.
💬 “Valjean steals bread to feed a starving child. How long before we are all forced to steal?
🌡 The fossil fuel show can’t go on: https://t.co/3tlBID7nKA pic.twitter.com/nCXsIGINoS
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) October 4, 2023
Just Stop Oil wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “4 people are locked to the stage of the French-revolution-themed show.
“Valjean steals bread to feed a starving child. How long before we are all forced to steal?”
The show was stopped and in a video of the scene the crowd can be heard booing the protesters.
The theatre was evacuated by 9.10pm.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that five people had been arrested.
Noah Crane, from Buxton near Aylsham, was one of the protesters.
Mr Crane has recently finished studying at Notre Dame Sixth Form in Norwich and is spending his gap year recruiting for Just Stop Oil.
He was previously arrested on King Charles III’s coronation day when police intercepted a planned protest.
Mr Crane defended Just Stop Oil to this newspaper earlier this year.
He said in July: “I’ve always cared about the environment and Just Stop Oil’s solution sounded incredibly reasonable given the gravity of the current situation.
“Throughout history disruption is what is needed to bring about change. The crisis is so dire we need to do whatever’s necessary.”
Poppy Bliss, a cafe worker from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, protested alongside him.
Just Stop Oil is an environmental activist group that has become well-known for its high-profile protests.
The group has made headlines for throwing tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery and interrupting play at Wimbledon, the Ashes and the World Snooker Championship.
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