It is not often that a dance piece gets to be presented more than a few times before it gets archived, especially when it is a smaller independent production. This is not the case for Zoltán Grecsó and Beatrix Simkó’s #Orpheus#Eurydice though: on 28 September we watched its 50th performance as part of the Springback Assembly programme. 

The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is a love story that has been inspiring artists of all disciplines for centuries. A talented musician and poet, Orpheus falls in love with nymph Euridice. When she dies from a snakebite, he descends to the underworld, determined to bring her back to the world of mortals. Hades, the king of the underworld, appreciating Orpheus’s enchanting music, grants his wish on one condition: he must not look back at Eurydice until they have arrived in the upper world. During their long quiet walk, Orpheus’s anxiousness and mistrust prevail and he glances back to make sure she is following – irrevocably condemning Eurydice to the world of the dead.

#Orpheus#Eurydice recontextualises the myth in contemporary reality. It becomes a love(?) story of happy moments and partnership enmeshed by conflict and violence. When the woman dies (is this a femicide?) she comes back completely changed, and her lover struggles to adapt to her new rhythm and attitudes. In the myth, looking back implies the fear of losing a familiar past. In the piece, looking into the future comes with a fear of change.

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Asking for directions for the right tram to MU Theatre, where the performance is programmed, not many locals seem to know it. A cosy venue located in the residential district of Újbuda, MU has been operating since the 1980s as an inclusive theater, promoting community work and supporting local, independent and non-regularly supported companies and creators. Such a mission is not a given in Hungary’s current political and cultural situation, under the government of right-wing Fidesz party and the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Branding their ideological approach to politics as a pivot towards ‘illiberal democracy’, Fidesz delineates a clear turn towards the past, in the sense of instigating a surge of ethno-religious nationalism, limiting free expression, controlling the media and enabling anti-immigrant and anti-EU sentiment.

Earlier that afternoon, in a round-table discussion, Hungarian dance artist Gergő D. Farkas had elaborated the direct effects these political guidelines have on the everyday life of artists. In the last decade, Fidesz has enacted constitutional and legislative changes that have increased and political control over the arts, limiting the plurality of creative expression and promoting a singular nationalist narrative. From controlling funding distribution and appointing party-affiliated people in crucial positions in arts institutions around the country, to passing anti-LGBTQ+ legislations and prioritising support for ‘works reflecting a Christian-Nationalist ideology’, cultural politics have created a hostile environment for the independent Hungarian art scene.

This turn towards nationalism is of course not exclusive to Hungarian politics. A fascination with national identity, tradition, cultural heritage and the protection of old norms and values has become increasingly apparent around the world. With awareness and a critical gaze, of course, a lot of value can be found in digging into the past, in looking for what is precious and should be preserved and at what is not working any more or is transforming into something new. But what happens when the past becomes an obsession for the purposes of conformity and control?

Back to Orpheus. When grasping from the past comes from a place of fear of losing the old and the familiar, and the denial of a new reality, it is detrimental for all sides: both Orpheus and Eurydice suffered the repercussions of his looking back. 

*Warm thanks to Gergő D. Farkas for sharing extensive and informative resources on Hungarian cultural politics.

Resource: Systematic Suppression: Hungary’s Arts and Culture in Crisis