Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt Les Misérables show by storming theatre stage

Protesters from Just Stop Oil have stormed the stage of a West End show, as they unfurled banners and flags in front of shocked theatre goers.

The quartet interrupted the performance of One Day More of Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre in Westminster, carrying orange banners which read Just Stop Oil and The Show Can’t Go On. They emerged during the song’s crescendo, amongst actors bearing revolutionary red flags. The theatre was evacuated around twenty minutes after the group locked themselves to the set with bicycle locks.

Among the protesters is 23-year-old community worker Hannah Taylor, who said: "The show starts with Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving child. How long before we are all forced to steal loaves of bread?

"How long before there are riots on the streets? The show cannot go on. We are facing catastrophe. New oil and gas means crop failure, starvation and death. It is an act of war on the global south and an utter betrayal of young people.

“Rishi Sunak has just approved Rosebank, a new oil project in the north sea which will produce as much carbon as the annual emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined. It will lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths due to starvation as crops fail in the increasingly extreme weather conditions.”

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Protesters on stage this evening

“Am I not, like Jean Valjean, justified in breaking the law to oppose this criminal government and its murderous policies? Ask yourself, will you, like the citizens of Paris in the play, stand by and watch, or will you stand up against our governments’ criminal plans and call for an end to new oil and gas?”

Several people on social media took against the group's actions and said they felt for those who had paid to watch the performance of the 19th century France-set show. Tickets for the production at Sondheim theatre start at £20 and rise to more than £100.

One of the protesters holding a Just Stop Oil banner (@TalkTV/Twitter)

One person said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "I’d be ripping their hands off the stage for the price of Les Mis tickets in the West End." Another added: "Imagine saving for months, making an overnight trip to London specifically to see Les Mis, a masterpiece that is a bucket list show for many people, only to have it ruined by protesters."

Another of the protesters was Poppy Bliss, 19, a student from Nottingham, who said: "I am taking action with Just Stop Oil because I am absolutely terrified for my future. I don’t want to be disrupting people’s evenings out, but I have been left with no other choice. Our government is betraying the young and putting everyone’s futures on the line for the sake of a few votes. I am doing this because I am desperate.”

Protesters stormed the stage during the crescendo of a song (@TalkTV/Twitter)

“We are frighteningly close to losing everything we love. Everything we know will be destroyed by climate collapse. I cannot do nothing and just watch that happen. I want a liveable future for my generation and the generations to come. The show cannot go on.”

A spokesman for Met Police said: "At about 21:00hrs on Wednesday, 4 October, police were called to a protest inside a theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, WC1. Local officers were quickly on scene and five people have been arrested."

Westminster Police added on Twitter: "At about 21:00hrs on Wednesday, 4 October, police were called to a protest inside a theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, WC1. Local officers were quickly on scene and five people have been arrested."