The Royal Opera House Cancelled One Israeli Show. Staff Demand It Axe Them All

The Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) has cancelled a production at the Israeli National Opera (INO) after 182 staff signed an open letter demanding that the organisation not collaborate with Israeli cultural institutions during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Though hailed as a “win” by concerned staff, they point out that RBO management has ignored the letter’s actual demands, including that the organisation refuse to stage work in Israel.

Giacomo Puccini’s 1900 opera Tosca examines the “devastation of war” following Napoleon’s invasion of Italy. The production was due to be performed in Tel Aviv in 2026 and directed by the RBO’s director of opera, Oliver Mears, who made headlines last month after angrily snatching a Palestinian flag from a performer onstage. In an interview with Novara Media, dancer Danni Perry claimed Mears told them: “You will never work for the opera house ever again.”

The open letter, signed by RBO dancers, singers and musicians as well as those working in the artistic, creative, technical and administrative departments, claimed the RBO’s work with the INO represented a “deliberate alignment, materially and symbolically, with a government currently engaged in crimes against humanity”.

On Monday, three days after receiving the open letter, the RBO told staff that the INO’s production of Tosca was cancelled.

The cancellation of Tosca by one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in Britain marks a win for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. It also reflects a shift in public opinion towards Israel, with 51% of Britons now believing its actions in Gaza are unjustified.

The increasing isolation of Israel within the international community, coupled with the developing consensus that its military assault on Gaza plausibly constitutes genocide, has made artistic collaboration with the country and its financial backers reputationally risky.

One RBO worker who was involved in organising the letter told Novara Media that the RBO’s planned collaboration with the INO had sparked unprecedented organising at the historic opera house: “It has been really good to see loads of people come together in a way that we have not seen before. These were all conversations that before this were happening in corridors, as whispers between colleagues.”

While they acknowledged the move to cancel Tosca was a “win”, they do not believe that the decision was “simply principled”, but rather the result of “a series of logistical and reputational failures”.

In July, the RBO hired out its production of Puccini and Franco Alfano’s opera Turandot to the INO. In line with the INO’s “opera in uniform” policy, IDF soldiers were offered free tickets to the RBO production in recognition of “their work” of protecting “our security every day, every hour”, with supporters asked to “contribute to making the opera accessible to IDF soldiers”.

However, the production coincided with Israel’s bombing of Iran, leaving performers rehearsing in bomb shelters and delaying the production, prompting fierce internal backlash.

“It feels like this decision comes because they’ve realised that, both logistically and reputationally, it’s not great to go and tour in a country that is at war and committing genocide,” the RBO worker told Novara Media. “It doesn’t come from a principled standpoint of not wanting to align themselves financially with the implications of the institution and the country.”

Others have noted RBO management’s failure to address any of the open letter’s four demands: that the opera house reject current or future productions in Israel; that it publicly acknowledge the Gaza genocide, and treat it in the same way it has Ukraine; that it stand in solidarity with Perry; and that Mears be “held accountable for his public display of aggression”.

Perry told Novara Media that while the decision to cancel Tosca’s run was a “step in the right direction”, it also seemed like a way to appease the letter-writers without addressing their substantive demands: “It feels like they’ve put this out to try and distract us, or hope we’ll back off.”

The staff’s open letter said that Mears’ “visible anger and aggression” towards Perry “in front of the entire audience … was itself a loud political statement”, one that “sent a clear message that any visible solidarity with Palestine would be met with hostility”.

Perry demanded RBO guarantee not to punish staff who chose to speak out on Palestine, and apologise for discouraging them to do so through its treatment of them.

Sir Alex Beard, chief executive of RBO, told Novara Media: “We want our stage to remain … free from individual political statements. Our support for Ukraine was aligned with the global consensus at the time.” Beard called Perry’s unfurling of the Palestine flag “without precedent”, and said that the RBO had since “reflected carefully and reviewed our internal protocols.”

Though it strongly maintains that the institution is apolitical, the RBO has taken a strong stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, RBO announced it would light its building in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, play the national anthem of Ukraine before each performance, organise a series of concerts for Ukraine, and cancel a visit by Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet.

Beard said that he was “appalled by the crisis in Gaza and recognised the deep emotional impact this has had across our community and wider society. On this issue, we acknowledge and respect the full range of views held by our staff, artists and audiences.”

“As the world’s geopolitics have become more complex, our stance has changed to ensure that our actions reflect our purpose and values.”

While the BDS boycott of Israeli cultural institutions has been ongoing since 2004, the UK culture industry has faced particular scrutiny for its links to Israel since the country began its recent war on Gaza.

In June last year, the investment company Bailie Gifford cancelled its literary festival sponsorships following protests over its links to Israel and fossil fuels. In January, workers at the Institute of Contemporary Arts walked out in protest at an exhibition’s sponsorship by Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has been accused of facilitating settlement infrastructure in the occupied West Bank.

Workers at several other cultural institutions, including London’s Almeida theatre and the New York film festival, have called for their organisations not to accept sponsorship from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which runs a city-leadership campaign that has trained the mayors and officials of over 40 illegal settlements.

The RBO continues to accept funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies.