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Music stops: Energy costs close Hungary theaters for winter
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A shadow is cast on the stage of the Trafo House of Contemporary Arts while technicians set up the lighting in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 19, 2022. Theaters and other cultural institutions in Hungary are reeling from exponentially growing energy prices, and some plan to close for the winter to avoid the skyrocketing bills. The Erkel Theatre in the capital of Budapest will close in November after its utilities went up as much as tenfold, and local governments across the country have ordered theaters, cinemas and museums to shut down during the cold months. - photo by AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A theater in Hungary's capital will sit through a cold and quiet winter after its managers chose to shut it down rather than pay skyrocketing utility prices that are putting a squeeze on businesses and cultural institutions across Europe. 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.