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This is the wild moment Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli pushed climate change activists out of the theater midway through his Broadway performance of An Enemy of the People
On Thursday night, three environmental activists from the group Extinction Rebellion stopped the show by shouting ‘no theater on dead planet’ at the beginning of the second act.
A protester was then seen being escorted out of the theater by cast members, including Imperioli, who pushed and dragged the rioter up the stairs — all while remaining in character.
In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a protester is seen walking on stage while stars Imperioli and Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy in succession, were in the middle of performing a rather tense scene.
‘I am very, very sorry to interrupt your evening and this amazing performance. I’m a theater artist,’ shouted the rioter before being escorted off the stage by security.
Climate change activists disrupted a performance of the Broadway play An Enemy of the People
Michael Imperioli (left), who plays Christopher Moltisanti in the show The Sopranos, told protesters to ‘go back to drama school’
The protester continued: ‘The seas are rising. It will swallow this whole city and this whole theater. I am putting my career on the line because we are not doing anything about this crisis. The water is coming to us!’
‘Go back to drama school!’ Imperioli shouted in true gangster fashion.
Strong, still in character, answered loudly ‘let them speak’.
Imperioli then left the stage and helped push the activist up the stairs and out of the theater.
Some of the audience members believed that the protesters were part of the show, as the plot addresses environmental concerns and involved audience participation.
When the last activist was thrown out of the theater, the majority of the audience applauded.
A group called Extinction Rebellion was responsible for the protest
The audience thought the protesters were part of the production
As the last activist was ejected from the theater, the majority of the audience applauded their efforts for social change
The actors were told to leave the stage by an announcement, but the majority of the group refused to comply.
Imperioli posted a response to the incident on Instagram, suggesting that while he personally disagrees with the protesters, he still values science.
“Tonight was wild … no hard feelings extermination rebel crew,” he wrote. ‘Michael is on your side, but Mayor Stockmann is not. Much love.’
A statement released by the climate change group said: “Today’s action highlights the failure of governments and businesses to treat climate and ecological collapse as the crisis it is.”
“The group emphasizes that the current socio-economic system cannot protect people from the coming environmental crises because the very structure creates these crises and then ignores them.”