Hungarian State Opera axes Billy Elliot shows after homophobic campaign

The Hungarian State Opera has axed 15 performances of the hit musical Billy Elliot after poor ticket sales, blamed by the management on a homophobic campaign that claimed the show would “transform boys into homosexuals”.

The management of the Budapest theatre pulled the plug on the 15 shows following a number of articles lambasting the musical in Magyor Idok, a leading newspaper allied to the Hungarian government.

In a letter to staff, Szilveszter Okovacs, the director of the opera, said: “As you know, the negative campaign against the Billy Elliot production has led to a big drop in ticket sales, and for this reason we are cancelling 15 performances in line with a decision by our management.”

One Magyar Idok article claimed the show could weaken Hungary’s birth rate at a time when thousands of immigrants wanted to come to the country.

“The propagation of homosexuality cannot be a national goal when the population is getting older and smaller and our country is threatened by invasion,” the paper wrote, despite the fact that the character of Michael, a friend of Billy’s who is gay, had been written out of the Hungarian version of the show.

Although Hungary has reasonably liberal laws on gay rights, Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, presides over a powerful government that champions itself as a protector of Christian Europe and its traditions, and as an opponent of liberal and cosmopolitan social attitudes.

Mr Orban also wants to boost Hungary’s declining birth rate, saying last year that it was in “the national interest to restore natural reproduction.”

Despite the State Opera cancelling 15 shows, it also said it will go ahead with performances of Billy Elliot until July 14, one of which is sold out. 

This news prompted 444.hu, a Hungarian news website critical of the government, to suggest that the theatre was using the excuse of poor ticket sales to hide the possibility it had come under pressure from the authorities to bring the curtain down on a show that failed to promote conservative values.