A cast member of the Royal Opera House in London raised a Palestinian flag on stage at the end of a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore on Saturday night.
The stunt received loud applause.
Videos of the incident show a besuited official attempting to take the flag away from the protester – without success.
A spokesperson for the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) told The Jerusalem Post that the protest was a “wholly inappropriate act” that was “not approved by the Royal Ballet and Opera.”
“The display of the flag was an unauthorized action by the artist,” the spokesperson added.
A different spokesperson told the BBC, “It was not in line with our commitment to political impartiality.”
The RBO’s commitments read, “Opera and ballet should belong to everyone. We acknowledge that people have experienced long-standing underrepresentation, inequality, and micro-aggression as a result of their skin color, ethnicity, and/or faith. We commit to confronting racism and discrimination, to employing and celebrating work by people of color, and to creating a more inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive.”
Flag raising 'not approved by Royal Ballet and Opera'
It claims to have a “zero tolerance” policy to “racism and discrimination” and says it will “challenge, report and take immediate action in response to racist language or behavior at any level in the organization.”
The Telegraph later identified the performer as Daniel Perry, who self-identifies as a “Queer dance artist and DJ living in London.”
Perry attended the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts – an institution with a tuition of £48,000 per year – and uses they/them pronouns.
Their DJ Instagram account biography features the words “resistance and revolution” alongside the watermelon emoji, which has come to represent the pro-Palestinian movement.
According to The Telegraph, Perry recently wore a “free Palestine” shirt to a London performance of Cabaret.