Three young activists from the Last Generation movement interrupted a performance on Friday evening to raise awareness about climate change.
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They intervened while the legendary play was being played Jederman (Each man), an allegory on the Last Judgment. Environmental activists from the Last Generation movement were evacuated on the evening of Friday July 21, at the opening of the prestigious opera and theater festival in Salzburg, Austria.
Three young activists loudly interrupted the performance to warn about climate change, according to a video posted on Twitter by the movement’s Austrian account. “We are the last generation able to prevent tipping points” [ces seuils de température qui, une fois franchis, pourraient entraîner un cercle vicieux irréversible]they shouted before being escorted out of the room by the security services.
Last Generation (Letzte Generation), very prominent in Germany and Austria, is increasing civil disobedience initiatives aimed at pushing the authorities to step up the fight against climate change. Its members have on several occasions stuck their hands on the asphalt of large avenues to interrupt traffic or projected different substances on paintings in museums.
Focus on the impact of climate change
Written by the Viennese poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874-1929), one of the founders of the festival, the play Jederman is traditionally repeated each year at the Salzburger Festpiele, which have been taking place since 1920 in this Austrian city. For this edition, the director Michael Sturminger has rightly chosen to emphasize the impact of climate change. Fake activists had even burst onto the stage at the start of the concert, the APA news agency reported.
Among the members of the environmental collective, Stefan Kogler-Sobl, a 25-year-old social worker and theater lover, explained that the decision to carry out this action “wasn’t easy for him”. “But what are my other options? The richest of the rich are only interested in themselves and our politicians do…nothing,” he lamented in a statement. Other activists speak at the end of the video broadcast by Last Generation. Contacted by AFP, the organization of the festival did not react immediately.