Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue

A lively, stage‑ready script unfolds across seven vivid scenes and a prologue, shifting from a lonely park on the edge of Budapest to a tin‑type shop, a railroad embankment, and even a courtroom that hints at something beyond the ordinary. The detailed cast list reads like a snapshot of early‑20th‑century Hungarian life—servant girls, policemen, a carpenter, and the enigmatic “Sparrow”—all set against the backdrop of an amusement park that feels both festive and forlorn.

At its heart is Liliom, a charismatic yet hardened carnival worker whose rough exterior masks deeper yearnings. His tumultuous relationship with the gentle Julie and his entanglements with the Hollunder family launch a story that teeters between gritty realism and a strange, almost magical, moral inquiry. The introduction hints at the play’s early bewilderment and later triumph, inviting listeners to explore Molnár’s blend of humor, tragedy, and spiritual questioning without revealing the ultimate fate that awaits Liliom.