Theater company breaks link with BP after ethics protest

Britain's world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company, known as the RSC, is to end its eight-year partnership with oil company BP at the end of the year because of public pressure.

The link-up with the global petrol company has allowed around 80,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25 to see world-class theater at the subsidized price of just 5 pounds ($6.14) per ticket, but following threats from students to boycott the theater on ethical grounds, the RSC said it "could not ignore" the "strength of feeling" over the matter.

The company's artistic and executive directors Gregory Doran and Catherine Mallyon thanked BP for its years of support and called the decision "difficult", adding that it was not one that had been taken "lightly or swiftly".

"Amidst the climate emergency, which we recognize, young people are now saying clearly to us that the BP sponsorship is putting a barrier between them and their wish to engage with the RSC. We cannot ignore that message."

A statement issued on behalf of the RSC added："Young people are now saying clearly to us that the BP sponsorship is putting a barrier between them and their wish to engage with the RSC."

BP said it was "disappointed and dismayed" at the "premature" end to the partnership, and that the move was precisely the opposite to the sort needed to address issues of public concern.

"The increasing polarization of debate, and attempts to exclude companies committed to making real progress, is exactly what is not needed", it continued, adding that it "welcomes engagement with all about how to make the energy we produce cleaner and better".

In a letter to the RSC, the students had said that BP was "actively destroying our futures" and that the sponsorship deal was a "stain on the RSC".

Greenpeace UK welcomed their success, and said it was "time other oil-sponsored institutions took note".

"Grassroots campaigns like BP Or Not BP and the youth strikers deserve this win," said the organization's Morten Thaysen. "It's hard not to think the walls are closing in on BP."

This is not the first time that the connection between the RSC and BP has caused problems. Earlier this year, Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance ended his connections with the theater company over the issue, saying in his resignation letter that he did not "wish to be associated with BP any more than I would with an arms dealer (or)tobacco salesman".

BP spends 7.5 million pounds per year on sponsorship of some of the United Kingdom's most prestigious arts and culture organizations, including the Royal Opera House, British Museum and National Portrait Gallery.

Until 2016, it also had connections with the Tate art galleries, although the company insists the decision to sever those ties was not a result of protests.

Ethical issues in arts sponsorship have become increasingly high-profile in recent times. Earlier this year, a 1-million-pound donation to the National Portrait Gallery from the Sackler Trust was cancelled because of the organization's connections to the opioid drug crisis in the US, and the Tate galleries also ended their dealings with the Sackler family.