The reality of migrant workers seen through the musical <Hadestown>

Solhee Lee, The Musical

 Many internationally licensed musicals have recently appeared in Korea, some dealing with contemporary social issues. In this article, we will discuss the meaning of Hadestown, a musical about migrant workers.

 

 In the musical Hadestown, the character of Eurydice is introduced. She cannot escape her poverty and is approached by Hades, the owner of an underground mine. He offers her the option to go down with him and work in the underground mine. She accepts his offer with no hope of improving her life in her current situation. "Everybody hungry, everybody tired, everybody slaves by the sweat of his brow, the wage is nothing and the work is hard, it's a graveyard in Hadestown." This lyric describes the underground mine. True to this description, after she arrives in Hadestown, the workers there do not notice, wonder, or speak to Eurydice. They just do their jobs and don't care about each other. Every worker there seems to be alienating each other, alienating themselves, and losing themselves. When Orpheus comes to Eurydice's rescue, Hades tells him that he only made a contract and gave her a choice. But in this scene, we have to wonder if it was a choice. If she chose because she had no other choice, not because she wanted to, then it might be a forced choice.

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 Like Eurydice and the workers, laborers are found everywhere in the world, working under unfair conditions with no way back to survive. Also, the image of Hades building a wall to secure his world and preventing the workers from escaping is reminiscent of abusive employers in the modern world. One of the lines Hades says to the workers in Hadestown is "Keep your head low, keep your eyes closed". This represents the oppression that causes people to forget themselves and live a life of repetitive labor. In our modern world, a poor and powerless worker doing dangerous work in poor conditions may not be a choice for the worker, who has to do it to survive, but rather a forced choice.

 

 Workers' stories like this continue to this day. Orpheus' belief that singing can change the world may be possible, and the problems of modern society can be solved if the members of society speak up and call for improvement. There are also characters like Eurydice in the same position as migrant workers who realize the harsh reality and face the problems themselves to overcome them. The above works do not tell us which character can change the world. However, they make the audience think these stories are important to pay attention to. As we live in the modern world, these works should make us pay more attention to these issues and urge us to solve them.

 

 

By Staff Reporter Shin Seohyun (2-4)