The 111-year-old Erkel Theatre in Budapest, one of three performance spaces of the prestigious Hungarian State Opera, will close its doors in November after exponentially rising energy bills made heating the 1,800-seat building unsustainable."We had to decide how we can save," said Szilveszter Okovacs, director of the Hungarian State Opera. "Even though it hurts to decide to close Erkel for a few months, it's completely rational.
Hungary's government in July declared an "energy emergency" in response to rising prices and supply disruptions linked to Russia's war. It also made cuts to a popular utility subsidy program that since 2014 has kept the bills of Hungarians among the lowest in the 27-member European Union. Beata Barda, director of the Trafo House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest, said her theatre's electricity bills have risen threefold since June and that there's an "uncertainty factor" in what kind of gas bills they might receive going into winter.
With inflation in Hungary at nearly 16% and the national currency reaching historic lows against the dollar and euro, households too are struggling with rising prices – something which could lead to a decline in theatre attendance and a subsequent spiral of financial troubles in the cultural industry, she said.
The gas bill for the 130,000-square-foot theatre has gone from an annual 40 million Hungarian forints to 250 million – a nearly sixfold increase.
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