Royal Ballet and Opera cancel planned run in Tel Aviv after backlash
The Royal Ballet and Opera in the UK has cancelled its planned run of performances in Israel next year after backlash from within the company.
The announcement came after almost 200 members from within the Royal Ballet and Opera signed an open letter to its chief executive, urging them to take action amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
As a result, the company’s planned production of the opera Tosca, which was set to be performed at the Israeli National Opera in Tel Aviv, has now been cancelled.
In response, their chief executive, Alex Beard, told staff that he was aware of the “open letter that has been circulating internally” and added: “We have made the decision that our new production of Tosca will not be going to Israel.”
Subsequently, all mention of the production has now been removed from the Israeli National Opera website.
182 staff from various departments within the organisation signed the open letter, 40 with their names attached and the rest anonymously, reportedly in fear of reprisal. They cited concerns about “recent actions and decisions taken by the RBO in the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” and also said the company’s links to Israel are “a deliberate alignment, materially and symbolically, with a government currently engaged in crimes against humanity.”
The letter continued: “The venue itself, the Israeli Opera, publicly offers free tickets to soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces ‘in recognition of their work’, as stated on their website. The RBO is clearly making a strong political statement by allowing its production and intellectual property to be presented in a space that openly rewards and legitimises the very forces responsible for the daily killings of civilians in Gaza.”
It comes just weeks after a performer with the Royal Ballet and Opera, Daniel Perry, caused controversy by raising a Palestinian flag during the company’s closing night of their most recent production, Il Trovatore. The open letter declared solidarity with Perry’s actions.
