Calgary Opera has removed bass Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega from the rest of its Tosca run after he unfurled a Palestinian flag at the Oct. 16 curtain call. CBC reported it. BroadwayWorld published the company statement. This is not a season-wide ban announced today, and not a cancellation of the opera.

The gesture was at the bow, not during the acts. The role was Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner, in Puccini's drama. The company said the action was unexpected and unauthorized and that individual political protest violates policy. It apologised for discomfort.

Another artist will sing the role for the remaining performances. Tosca has three nights; the last is 24 October at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Being replaced for the rest of this run is not a ruling on Cinderella, Otello or The Pied Piper, where the website still lists him, BroadwayWorld writes. The company has not said whether the decision goes beyond Tosca.

Sanchez-Ortega wrote on Instagram that he has no regrets and that "this is the state of cultural institutions in Canada." He said he was told financial threats had been made against the opera. He holds no resentment. CBC notes that neither he nor the company immediately responded to requests for comment.

Born in Montreal, he is a member of the McPhee Artist Development Program. That is biography, not an announcement that he has been dropped from the program. Anyone writing that he has been banned from Canadian theatre or that Tosca has been banned is writing past a replacement for the rest of this run.

The opera said individual protest also contravenes its duty to create a shared artistic experience. That is their policy, not a law. A flag at the bow is not a scene from the score and not a verdict on a war.

Image: Thivierr, Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, 2006, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the hall, not the bow.

Sources consulted: Calgary Opera replaces performer who unfurled Palestinian flag during Tosca bow - CBC News; Calgary Opera Drops Tosca Singer For Bringing Palestinian Flag On Stage - BroadwayWorld.