Last Saturday, the final curtain call of the Royal Ballet and Opera’s Il trovatore was marked by a cast member holding a Palestine flag. While the audience applauded, Oliver Mears, RBO’s Director of Opera, was caught on camera aggressively attempting to remove the flag from the wings.
Mears’ actions went unacknowledged and generally unreported – with instead the focus placed on dancer Danni Perry, the performer who held the flag. “I chose to do my demonstration during my curtain call, a moment for myself,” Perry said on Tuesday. “I chose to make it about something bigger than me.”
Following the incident, Mears reportedly said to Perry: “You will never work at the opera house again.”
Yesterday the RBO issued a new statement to VAN Magazine, condemning Perry’s actions as “completely inappropriate”, and affirming their support for “several members of staff [who] attempted to protect the final curtain call of the Season.”
An RBO spokesperson earlier told the BBC that the display of a Palestine flag was “not in line with our commitment to political impartiality.” This position has been noted to be inconsistent with the house’s support for Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion.
In 2022, then-CEO Alex Beard wrote: “Everyone at ROH is deeply shocked and appalled by the ongoing humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine.” The Ukrainian national anthem is frequently played before performances, and the Songs for Ukraine fundraising performance series was also established.
In their statement to VAN, the RBO spokesperson wrote: “Our support for Ukraine was shaped by a full-scale invasion that posed a direct threat to international stability and the UK’s national security. At the time, we were aligned with a global consensus around the need for immediate support.”
In October and December 2023, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour for immediate ceasefires in Gaza, and in March 2024 the UN Security Council also adopted a resolution in favour of a ceasefire. The world consensus has been strongly unified since at least that time.
The RBO continued: “We recognise that the humanitarian situation across Gaza and Israel is grave and pressing. The wider geopolitical context is tense, layered, and complex.
“As we review our approach, we are committed to evolving our stance to ensure that our actions reflect our purpose and values.
“Our goal is to act with integrity and compassion. We must ensure that our stage remains a space for shared cultural appreciation, free from division and divisive political statements.”
Polling as of July 2025 indicates that a clear majority of Brits oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, wish to suspend all arms exports to Israel, and impose financial and trade sanctions. Israel’s actions in Gaza are widely accepted, by international aid and medical organisations, human rights groups and a significant proportion of the general population, to be genocidal.
In May, the British government joined France and Canada to condemn Israel’s widespread escalation in 2025, promising “concrete actions” if Israel did not halt its aggression. The British government has since joined with 27 countries to condemn Israel again this week.
An open letter signed by 182 staff members of the RBO was issued in solidarity with Perry, criticising the RBO’s management. The RBO has since announced it will pull its proposed 2026 production run of Tosca at the Israeli National Opera in Tel Aviv, with Mears telling staff “we have made the decision that our new production of Tosca will not be going to Israel.”
Turandot, hired from the RBO, was staged this year from June to July. At the opera house, tickets are free for all on-duty Israeli military personnel who attend in uniform.
This article was updated on 4th August.