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The Calgary Opera has replaced a performer who unfurled a Palestinian flag during the curtain call of the political opera “Tosca.”
On Friday, the bass singer Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega held up the flag at the end of Giacomo Puccini’s drama about love and betrayal during political upheaval in Napoleonic Rome.
In a statement issued Sunday, the Calgary Opera called the action “unexpected and unauthorized,” adding that individual political protest violated company policy.
The institution apologized for the “discomfort and distress” some may have felt and said Sanchez-Ortega’s role will be performed by another artist for the remainder of the shows.
Sanchez-Ortega played a character named Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner.
In an Instagram story, Sanchez-Ortega wrote that he had “no regrets” and that “this is the state of cultural institutions in Canada.”
In a statement to The Canadian Press, the Calgary Opera said it prohibits any personal protests on its stages and at its events.
“The display of any protest symbol or action would result in similar consequences,” the message read.
“We have reiterated this prohibition to all artists and staff, and will continue to apply it universally in response to all cases of unauthorized protest, regardless of the symbol or action that protest takes.”
Sanchez-Ortega said he holds no resentment.
“After the theatre, (political or otherwise) we all have to go home, and look at ourselves in the mirror,” Sanchez-Ortega continued in his statement.
“It was my honour to play the role of Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner.”
A tagline for “Tosca” on the Calgary Opera’s website reads, “Fear Nothing. Lose Everything.”
The decision to replace Sanchez-Ortega has been met with criticism online.
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, a group that advocates for Palestinians, said the move raises questions about artistic freedom in Canadian cultural institutions.
“It is particularly troubling that an artist portraying a political prisoner in ‘Tosca’ would be removed for expressing solidarity with Palestinians,” said Jamila Ewais, a researcher for the group, in a statement.
“Cultural institutions cannot celebrate stories of resistance on stage while punishing artists for expressing solidarity with oppressed communities in real life.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
