'The Tempest' performance disrupted by protestors in the West End

Sigourney Weaver, who is depicting Prospero in Shakespeare's classic play, was seated on stage when protestors climbed on to the stage.

Just Stop Oil activists interrupted a performance of The Tempest, starring Sigourney Weaver, at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Monday (27 January) night.

Weaver, who is depicting Prospero in Shakespeare's classic play, was seated on stage when protestors climbed on to the stage with a flag that displayed the statement: “Over 1.5 Degrees is a Global Shipwreck.”

The sign was a reference to the recent announcement that 2024 is the warmest year on record globally, with the average temperature exceeding 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Stage management team promptly removed the protestors and cast from the stage.

A statement from 42-year-old Hayley Walsh — one of the protestors to rush the stage — was released shortly after the event. She said: “I am scared for my children, I can’t sleepwalk them into a future of food shortages, life-threatening storms and wars for resources. Years of writing to MPs, going on marches and teaching my students to be more sustainable, hasn’t seen the urgent change needed.

“One point five degrees is a global shipwreck we can’t ignore. Wildfires in California, deadly floods in Valencia and hundreds of thousands without power in the UK this weekend. This isn’t a distant, future problem. We need a global treaty to stop fossil fuel burning and a global emergency response.”

The other activist, Richard Weir, added: "We're already seeing the damage this crisis is doing to crops, homes and entire neighbourhoods.

"Unless we come together and demand a move away from fossil fuels by 2030, we will go the same way as manufacturing in the UK."

Book The Tempest tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest. (Photo by Marc Brenner)