Climate activists halt Jeremy Strong, Michael Imperioli Broadway play ‘An Enemy of the People’ mid-show
A trio of climate protestors became the enemy of the audience on Broadway.
At Thursday night’s performance of “An Enemy of the People,” starring Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli, three environmental activists interrupted the start of the second act with shouts of “no theater on a dead planet!”
The Post witnessed one person walk onto the stage of the Circle In The Square Theatre on W. 50th Street, where the “Succession” and “Sopranos” stars were in the middle of a tense scene.
The man spoke briefly before being escorted off by security and cast members.
“I am very, very sorry to interrupt your night and this amazing performance. I am a theater artist,” he said.
“The oceans are rising. It will swallow this city and this entire theater whole. I am putting my career on the line because we are not doing anything about this crisis. The water is coming for us!”
Imperioli later shouted at another, “Go back to drama school!”
But Strong, remaining in character, said, “Let them speak.”
A group called Extinction Rebellion took credit for the mid-performance demonstration. In a statement, they said, “Today’s action highlights the failure of governments and corporations to treat climate and ecological breakdown as the crisis it is.”
Because the second half of Henrik Ibsen’s play begins at a raucous town meeting, concerns poisoned water and, in this production, already involves audience participation, many in the theater believed the shouters were a part of the show.
One audience member, Ashley Wolfgang, wrote on X, “You know you’ve seen too much experimental theatre when you immediately assume climate protestors in the middle of ‘Enemy of the People’ is part of it.”
However, when the final activist was escorted out, much of the room applauded.
An announcement instructed the actors to leave the stage, but most of the cast stood their ground.
Theater critics from The Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out New York and other outlets were in attendance.
A spokesman for “An Enemy of the People” had no comment.
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