London’s Royal Opera House on Sunday condemned as “wholly inappropriate” the actions of a performer who held up a Palestinian flag onstage at the end of a performance.
Video footage posted online shows a brief scuffle at the edge of the stage as a figure dressed in a shirt and tie unsuccessfully attempts to stop the performer.
The incident in the British capital on Saturday during the curtain call came on the closing night of an 11-night run of Il Trovatore, a four-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi.
“Extraordinary scenes at the Royal Opera House tonight,” a person who claimed to have been in the audience posted on social media.
“During the curtain call for Il Trovatore one of the background artists came on stage waving a Palestine flag. Just stood there, no bowing or shouting. Someone offstage kept trying to take it off him. Incredible.”
A spokesperson for the Royal Ballet and Opera in London’s Covent Garden said the “display of the flag was an unauthorised action by the artist”.