Just Stop Oil eco-clowns who stormed West End play are university lecturer and retired plumber who claimed the government was carrying out 'mass genocide' with fossil fuels
A university lecturer and a former plumber have been revealed as the two Just Stop Oil activists who stormed a West End play starring Sigourney Weaver last night.
The eco-zealots clambered onto the stage at the Theatre Royal in London's Covent Garden last night while the Hollywood star was performing a scene in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
They appeared from the left side of a stage - just as Weaver emphatically delivered the line 'Come forth' - holding an orange banner which read ‘Over 1.5 Degrees is a Global Shipwreck’.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed today that a 42-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man have both since been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass following the protest.
Just Stop Oil last night named the protesters as lecturer and mother-of-three Hayley Walsh, 42, from Nottingham, and mechanical engineer Richard Weir, 60, from Tynemouth, North Tyneside.
Walsh, who is a senior lecturer in Costume Design & Making at Nottingham Trent University, said she was 'scared for my children' of living in a 'future of food shortages, life-threatening storms and wars for resources'.
Ironically, Walsh has previously worked in the costume department for several well known theatre shows, including a production of Oliver! and The Twits at The Curve in Leicester.
Retired Plumber Weir took aim at 'failures of leadership' among politicians for refusing 'to take action to protect us and our loved ones'. He has previously claimed the Government was 'carrying out mass genocide by allowing oil production to continue'.
University lecturer Hayley Walsh, 42, was one of two Just Stop Oil activists who stormed a West End starring Sigourney Weaver last night
Richard Weir, 60, was the other eco-zealot who burst onto the stage at Theatre Royal in London's Covent Garden last night
The chaos took place around 8pm on Monday as the eco-warriors took to the stage at Theatre during a rendition of Shakespeare's The Tempest
Last night's theatre stunt is not the first time Walsh has been involved in a public protest for a climate action group.
At the start of 2024, she took part in a sitting protest for Extinction Rebellion Nottingham in support of the Defend Our Juries campaign.
She also took part in a demonstration outside the offices of three Tory MPs, including the former MP for Rushcliffe Ruth Edwards, who she claimed was using 'the planet as a political football'.
According to Walsh's social media, she has worked at Nottingham Trent for almost nine years, having started as a visiting lecturer in April 2016.
She later became a full time lecturer in July 2018, before being promoted to a part time senior lecturer in September 2021.
Walsh, who describes herself as 'conscientious' and 'empathetic', claims her work as a costume designer and maker is led by her aim to 'explore sustainable and socially engaged practice within the arts and arts education'.
She adds that she is 'actively engaged in embedding climate justice and action into the core curriculum'.
She also firmly believes in 'the potential and necessity for artists to be the instigators of a more sustainable, equitable post-capitalist society'.
Walsh also took part in a sitting protest for Extinction Rebellion Nottingham in support of the Defend Our Juries campaign
The mother-of-three, who is also a lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, took part in the protest in early 2024
Mother-of-three Walsh, who is a senior lecturer in Costume Design & Making at Nottingham Trent University,
Walsh's profile on the Nottingham Trent website says she encourages each of her students 'to find their own creative voice' and empowers them 'to use that voice to create positive change'.
The 42-year-old also runs a 'creative studio' which she uses to create 'wearable art from varied materials including textiles and metal'.
'Her work aims to connect us with our environment, with our stories, our sense of self and with each other,' her website adds.
The other activist involved in Monday's protest was Richard Weir, a retired heating engineer from Tynemouth.
The 60-year-old is currently the managing director of a small family plumbing and gas engineering business, which helps install new heating systems and service other household appliances such as boilers and cookers.
Weir claims to have completed 'a number of heat pump courses' and fitted his first heat pump in January 2023.
His company's account on X also frequently shares content from other climate activists including Greta Thunnerg and fellow JSO activist Louise Harris.
In 2023, the account shared a post in support of Harris after she reached no.4 on the Christmas charts with a song about climate change, but complained she was 'censored' after it was not announced or played on the radio.
Walsh also runs a 'creative studio' which she uses to create 'wearable art from varied materials including textiles and metal'
The other activist involved in Monday's protest was Richard Weir (pictured), a retired heating engineer from Tynemouth
The 60-year-old (centre) is currently the managing director of a small family plumbing and gas engineering business
He also refuses to fly and says he is 'happy to get arrested for standing up for people dying from the climate crisis'.
Weir, who describes himself as a 'Just Stop Oil climate thorn in the side', has previously taken aim at the Government for how it has dealt with environmental issues.
Responding to a post on social media in December 2023, marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Weir accused the UK Government of 'carrying out mass genocide'.
He wrote: 'Sadly our Human Rights Article 2 - right to life - is currently being violated by our government who are allowing the exploration, production and burning of fossil fuels which is changing our climate resulting in floods, fires, famine, food shortages and the displacement of millions of people.
'Our UK government is carrying out mass genocide by allowing oil production to continue knowing it’s effects on our world.'
Outlining his reasons from protesting on Monday, Weir said: 'I started my career in the shipyards of Tyneside and I watched management inaction lead to the collapse of UK manufacturing. Now I see similar failures of leadership as politicians refuse to take action to protect us and our loved ones.'
'We’re already seeing the damage this crisis is doing to crops, homes and entire neighbourhoods.
'Unless we come together and demand a move away from fossil fuels by 2030, we will go the same way as manufacturing in the UK. Just Stop Oil be taking action outside parliament this April. Join us.'
The eco-zealots climbed onto the stage at around 8pm yesterday before unfurling an orange banner that read 'Over 1.5 Degrees is a Global Shipwreck'
The activists were then escorted off the stage along with Weaver
Writing on the banner read 'Over 1.5 Degrees is a Global Shipwreck' in reference to an announcement that 2024 had seen this exceeded
The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Tuesday that a 42-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass following the theatre protest.
The pair, who the force did not name, were arrested on Tuesday after walking into a central London police station and have been put in police custody.
The eco-zealots had climbed onto the stage at around 8pm yesterday before unfurling an orange banner that read 'Over 1.5 Degrees is a Global Shipwreck' in reference to an announcement that 2024 had seen this limit exceeded.
They then set off a confetti cannon, before announcing: 'We'll have to stop the show ladies and gentlemen, sorry'.
The activists timed their entrance after Weaver emphatically delivered the line 'Come forth', prompting another character to emerge from the floor.
They were met with boos and whistles from the audience and shouts of 'get them off'. Weaver, who had been sitting on a chair, was escorted off stage.
People later took to social media to express their disapproval at the actions with one person saying 'disrupting art and a performance is not cool'.
Another said 'bloody idiots' while a third added 'people are sick to death of you, all you are doing is alienating people'.
Alien actress Sigourney, 74, plays the storm-creating magician Prospero in the new staging of the Shakespeare classic, a role typically played by a man
Sigourney Weaver attends the press night after party for The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on December 19
A spokesman for Just Stop Oil added: 'Scientists warn that surpassing 1.5 degrees over pre-industrial levels will trigger catastrophic feedback loops that threaten the stability of all life on earth.'
The Met said in a statement on Tuesday: 'At around 20:00hrs two Just Stop Oil protesters entered the stage area at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, WC2. Police attended but both had left the venue.
'Two people – a 42-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man - were subsequently arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass after attending a central London police station on Tuesday, 28 January. They remain in custody.
'Anyone who was at the performance and witnessed this incident, or who has information that could assist this investigation, is asked to call officers on 101 quoting CAD 2453/28JAN. You can also 'X' @MetCC.'
