Stage Against Hate: A Theater Keeps Jewish Culture Alive Beyond Memory And Myth
In the heart of Budapest lies a theater unlike any other. Founded two decades ago, Gólem stands as the only professional Jewish theater in Hungary.
Through contemporary plays, adaptations of classics, and innovative productions, the Gólem Theater brings Jewish history, identity and memory into the public eye.
“The initial idea came because we thought the theater was missing from Budapest’s Jewish cultural landscape,” said Andras Borgula, cofounder and artistic director of the theater.
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By blending humor with questions of identity, the theater seeks to engage audiences with a different side of Jewish culture.
“When people hear ‘Jew’ in Hungary today, they often think first of the Holocaust,” Borgula said. “But we want to tell other stories — stories that show a living, diverse culture, not only tragedy and sadness.”
In the last season, Gólem Theater organized more than 100 performances and attracted more than 10,000 visitors.
Rooted in a long tradition of political cabaret in Hungary — which survived through the country’s Communist dictatorship — the Gólem Theater also engages with broader social issues. In 2021, it spoke out against a controversial Hungarian law restricting the portrayal of LGBTQ+ topics to minors, reflecting its wider commitment to challenging prejudice and exclusion in all forms.
“We are not religious, we perform Friday nights, and we are talking about all aspects of Jewish life in our shows. It means that Jewish people can be bad people, and it's totally ok,” said Szúra Szeréna Dajka, public relations and marketing manager as well as an actress, who recently played a character in The Dybbuk — a Jewish version of Romeo and Juliet. “This is what makes our work even more unique and important.”
In Hungary, a nation that lost more than 500,000 Jews during World War II and where antisemitism has been pervasive throughout modern history, the prevalence of hate speech has raised concerns, especially since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
“I was always aware that there is antisemitism, even in Hungary,” Borgula said. “But it’s more like old-fashioned antisemitism that hides and is always under the surface. You can read it between the lines in articles, even when the word ‘Jew’ isn’t used.”
More than just a cultural venue, Gólem Theater has given itself a much broader mission.
“We're doing this because we think that we should laugh about everything together. If you laugh at the Jews alone, maybe it's not the good way, but if we laugh together, that’s the beginning of something,” Borgula said.
Dajka said she feels that “our work is more important than ever in this context.”
“Sometimes when we post something online to ask for donations, because we are a small NGO with not a lot of support, we receive a lot of bad messages,” said Dajka, adding that members of the NGO often respond by inviting them to see a play.
The last 16 years under ultra-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have been marked by political campaigns — particularly those targeting the Jewish financier and philanthropist George Soros — and have been accused of reviving antisemitic stereotypes. The Orbán government has also been accused of establishing an illiberal democracy marked by restrictions on freedoms, corruption and favoritism.
“The Hungarian government always gave a lot of money to culture, but to a very specific kind of art, meaning the people who were inside the circle,” Borgula said.
But the overwhelming victory of the Hungarian opposition in the April elections could change the situation. “We want to believe that the change in the government will also change this,” he said. Borgula added that he had received several calls since the elections from festivals or municipalities inviting them to perform, something organizers were hesitant to do before.
More than entertainment, the theater workshops, audience Q-and-As and community events create safe spaces where people can engage with complex issues like prejudice, stereotypes and hate speech. The NGO estimates that a quarter of its audience comes from the Jewish community and that the vast majority are non-Jewish but curious to learn more or change their perceptions.
But attracting those who have prejudices remains a major challenge.
“The theater is a meeting point. Once people are there, dialogue becomes possible,” Borgula said. “The problem is how do you bring to the Jewish theater people who don't like Jews? How do you convince them to come?”
One solution is to amplify the impact through collaborations with schools, cultural festivals and European Jewish theater networks, positioning art as a form of activism. It is also done by word of mouth; a person from a family who has come to see a play and had a good experience will talk about it around them and potentially change the minds of hesitant people, think the organizers.
In recent years, the theater has won several awards, such as an award from the City of Budapest and the best comedy of the year in 2013 for the play “Final Cut.” In a context of rising global tensions, the ambitious mission of Gólem Theater, now in its 20th season, appears more necessary than ever.
“We are working on a lot of new projects in the future to continue this important dialogue,” Borgula said.
Romain Chauvet is a French-Canadian journalist based in Madrid.