The swans are back at Sadler’s Wells – but they’re not Tchaikovsky’s

Fossil Free London activists disrupted the closing performance of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells on Sunday 26 January, to urge the theatre to cut ties with Barclays over the bank’s funding of fossil fuels and arms.

Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells: disrupted again

The demonstration began with 10 protesters dressed in Swan Lake costumes staging a “die-in” outside the theatre, accompanied by a cellist:

The protesters fell to the ground next to a banner that read, “Barclays Funds Bombs and Big Oil”. Meanwhile, leaflets explaining the protest were distributed to theatregoers.

Just before the show began; a large banner was unfurled from a second-floor balcony inside the building, reading “Drop Barclays”:

Security escorted the campaigners out of the building:

Barclays is a major sponsor of Sadler’s Wells. The chair of the Sadler’s Wells board of trustees, Nigel Higgins, also serves as the chairman of Barclays.

Since the 2016 Paris Agreement, Barclays has been Europe’s biggest financier of fossil fuels. They channel vast sums of money to oil giants like Shell and BP, whose continued expansion of fossil fuel production drives us ever closer to climate collapse. Furthermore, a 2024 investigation revealed Barclays invests over £2 billion in shares, and provides loans and underwriting worth £6.1 billion, to companies whose weapons, components and military technology have been used in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.

Fossil Free London performed a similar stunt at Sadler’s Wells in December 2024.

Joanna Warrington, a Fossil Free London spokesperson said:

It’s time for Sadler’s Wells to stop dancing around this issue, and stop partnering with Barclays. A bank that fuels genocide and climate breakdown.

For as long as they do so, they’re complicit in the devastating extreme weather events and untold violence we’re seeing strewn across the news daily. Because, thanks to Sadler’s Wells’ cultural power, this sponsorship enables Barclays to hide behind a façade of corporate responsibility. All whilst they continue to bankroll industries that kill.

It’s time Sadler’s Wells took a stand against the oily financiers set on destroying everything we love, all to line their pockets.

Featured image and additional images via Fossil Free London