Liliom

LILIOM

[Cast of First New York Production]

[Introduction]

[Synopsis of Scenes]

[Cast of Characters]

[The Prologue]

[Scene One]

[Scene Two]

[Scene Three]

[Scene Four]

[Scene Five]

[Scene Six]

[Scene Seven]

[Transcriber’s Note]

L I L I O M

A LEGEND IN SEVEN SCENES
AND A PROLOGUE

BY

FRANZ MOLNAR

ENGLISH TEXT AND INTRODUCTION BY

BENJAMIN F. GLAZER

HORACE LIVERIGHT
PUBLISHER NEW YORK

LILIOM

COPYRIGHTED, 1921, BY
UNITED PLAYS INC.

All rights reserved

First Printing, May, 1921
Second Printing, June, 1921
Third Printing, August, 1921
Fourth Printing, November, 1921
Fifth Printing, September, 1922
Sixth Printing, December, 1922
Seventh Printing, January, 1926
Eighth Printing, December, 1927
Ninth Printing, November, 1928

CAUTION—All persons are hereby warned that the plays published in this volume are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States and all foreign countries, and are subject to royalty, and any one presenting any of said plays without the consent of the Author or his recognized agents, will be liable to the penalties by law provided. Applications for the acting rights must be made to the United Plays, Inc., 1428 Broadway, New York City.

Printed in the United States of America

As originally produced by The Theatre Guild, on the night of April 20, 1921, at the Garrick Theatre, New York City.

[CAST OF CHARACTERS]

(In the order of their appearance)

[INTRODUCTION]

The première of “LILIOM” at Budapest in December, 1909, left both playgoer and critic a bit bewildered. It was not the sort of play the Hungarian capital had been accustomed to expect of its favorite dramatist, whose THE DEVIL, after two years of unprecedented success, was still crowding the theatres of two continents.

One must, it was true, count on a touch of fantasy in every Molnar work. Never had he been wholly content with everyday reality, not in his stories, or in his sketches or in his earlier plays; and least of all in THE DEVIL wherein the natural and supernatural were most whimsically blended. But in LILIOM, it seemed, he had carried fantasy to quite unintelligible lengths. Budapest was frankly puzzled.

What did he mean by killing his hero in the fifth scene, taking him into Heaven in the sixth and bringing him back to earth in the seventh? Was this prosaic Heaven of his seriously or satirically intended? Was Liliom a saint or a common tough? And was his abortive redemption a symbol or merely a jibe? These were some of the questions Budapest debated while the play languished through thirty or forty performances and was withdrawn.

Almost ten years passed before it was revived. This time it was an immediate and overwhelming triumph. Perhaps the wide circulation of the play in printed form had made its beauty and significance clearer. Perhaps the tragedy of the war had made Molnar’s public more sensitive to spiritual values. Whatever the reason, Budapest now accepted ecstatically what it had previously rejected, and Molnar was more of a popular hero than ever. From which it may be gleaned that Hungary takes its drama and dramatists more seriously, disapproves them more passionately and praises them more affectionately than we Americans can conceive. In Paris I once saw an audience rise en masse, because the sculptor Rodin had entered the auditorium, and remain on its feet cheering until he had taken his seat. Something of the kind greets Molnar whenever he appears in public, and nothing is more certain than that he is the hero, the oracle, the spoiled darling of club, salon and coffee house in which artistic Hungary foregathers.

But the years immediately following the first production of LILIOM were for him a period of eclipse. It was the first time that even the threat of failure had cast its shadow across his career. He became timid, wary of failure, too anxious to please his public. His subsequent plays were less original, less daring, more faithful to routine. Never again did he touch the heights of LILIOM; and some of his best friends aver that he never will again until he has banished the dread of failure that obsesses him.

An odd situation, truly, and in some aspects a tragic one. Genius lacking the courage to spread its wings and soar. A potential immortal bidding fearfully for the praise of a coffee-house clique. Is it vanity? Is it abnormal sensitiveness? Biographical data cast little light on the enigma.

Franz Molnar was born in Budapest on January 12, 1878, the son of a wealthy Jewish merchant. He graduated from the Universities of Geneva and Budapest. His literary career was begun as a journalist at the age of eighteen. He wrote short sketches and humorous dialogues of such beauty and charm that he became a national figure almost at once, and the circulation of his newspaper increased until it was foremost in Budapest. Then he married Margaret Vaszi, the daughter of his editor, herself a journalist of note. Two years later he was divorced from her, and subsequently he married an actress who had played rôles in his own plays.

For a portrait of him as he is today you have to think of Oscar Wilde at the height of his glory. A big pudgy face, immobile, pink, smooth-shaven, its child-like expressionlessness accentuated by the monocle he always wears, though rather belied by the gleam of humor in his dark alert eyes. His hair is iron-gray, his figure stocky and of about medium height. A mordant wit, an inimitable raconteur, he loves life and gayety and all the luxuries of life. Nothing can persuade him out of his complacent and comfortable routine. He will not leave Budapest, even to attend the première of one of his plays in nearby Vienna. The post-war political upheaval which has rent all Hungary into two voluble and bitter factions left him quite unperturbed and neutral. His pen is not for politics.

Yet it is a singularly prolific pen. His novels and short stories are among the finest in Hungarian literature. He has written nine long plays and numerous short ones. A chronology of his more important dramatic works is as follows:

1902 A DOKTOR UR (The Doctor).

1904 JOZSI.

1907 AZ ÖRDÖG (The Devil).

1909 LILIOM.

1911 TESTÖR (Played in this country as “Where Ignorance is Bliss”).

1913 A FARKAS (Played in this country as “The Phantom Rival”).

1914 URIDIVAT (Attorney for Defence).

1919 A HATTYU (The Swan).

1920 SZINHAZ (Theatre: Three One-Act Plays).

Undoubtedly the greatest of these is LILIOM. Indeed, I know of no play written in our own time which matches the amazing virtuosity of LILIOM, its imaginative daring, its uncanny blending of naturalism and fantasy, humor and pathos, tenderness and tragedy into a solid dramatic structure. At first reading it may seem a mere improvization in many moods, but closer study must reveal how the moods are as inevitably related to each other as pearls on a string.

And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves’ song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. . . . The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.

What is the moral of LILIOM? Nothing you can reduce to a creed. Molnar is not a preacher or a propagandist for any theory of life. You will look in vain in his plays for moral or dogma. His philosophy—if philosophy you can call it—is always implicit. And nothing is plainer than that his picture of a courtroom in the beyond is neither devoutly nor satirically intended. Liliom’s Heaven is the Heaven of his own imagining. And what is more natural than that it should be an irrational jumble of priest’s purgatory, police magistrate’s justice and his own limited conception of good deeds and evil?

For those who hold that every fine dramatic architecture must have its spire of meaning, that by the very selection of character and incident the dramatist writes his commentary on life, there is still an explanation possible. Perhaps Molnar was at the old, old task of revaluing our ideas of good and evil. Perhaps he has only shown how the difference between a bully, a wife-beater and a criminal on the one hand and a saint on the other can be very slight. If one must tag LILIOM with a moral, I prefer to read mine in Liliom’s dying speech to Julie wherein he says: “Nobody’s right . . . but they all think they are right. . . . A lot they know.”

BENJAMIN F. GLAZER.

New York, April, 1921.

LILIOM

[SYNOPSIS OF SCENES]

[PROLOGUE]—An amusement park on the outskirts of Budapest.

[FIRST SCENE]—A lonely place in the park.

[SECOND SCENE]—The photographic studio of the HOLLUNDERS.

[THIRD SCENE]—Same as scene two.

[FOURTH SCENE]—A railroad embankment outside the city.

[FIFTH SCENE]—Same as scene two.

[SIXTH SCENE]—A courtroom in the beyond.

[SEVENTH SCENE]—JULIE’S garden.

There are intermissions only after the second and fifth scenes.

[CAST OF CHARACTERS]

• LILIOM
• JULIE
• MARIE
• MRS. MUSKAT
• LOUISE
• MRS. HOLLUNDER
• FICSUR
• YOUNG HOLLUNDER
• WOLF BEIFELD
• THE CARPENTER
• LINZMAN
• THE DOCTOR
• THE MAGISTRATE
• TWO MOUNTED POLICEMEN
• TWO PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMEN
• TWO HEAVENLY POLICEMEN
• THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
• THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
• THE GUARD
• A SUBURBAN POLICEMAN

[THE PROLOGUE]

An amusement park on the outskirts of Budapest on a late afternoon in Spring. Barkers stand before the booths of the sideshows haranguing the passing crowd. The strident music of a calliope is heard; laughter, shouts, the scuffle of feet, the signal bells of merry-go-round.

The merry-go-round is at Center. LILIOM stands at the entrance, a cigarette in his mouth, coaxing the people in. The girls regard him with idolizing glances and screech with pleasure as he playfully pushes them through entrance. Now and then some girl’s escort resents the familiarity, whereupon LILIOM’S demeanor becomes ugly and menacing, and the cowed escort slinks through the entrance behind his girl or contents himself with a muttered resentful comment.

One girl hands LILIOM a red carnation; he rewards her with a bow and a smile. When the soldier who accompanies her protests, LILIOM cows him with a fierce glance and a threatening gesture. MARIE and JULIE come out of the crowd and LILIOM favors them with particular notice as they pass into the merry-go-round.

MRS. MUSKAT comes out of the merry-go-round, bringing LILIOM coffee and rolls. LILIOM mounts the barker’s stand at the entrance, where he is elevated over everyone on the stage. Here he begins his harangue. Everybody turns toward him. The other booths are gradually deserted. The tumult makes it impossible for the audience to hear what he is saying, but every now and then some witticism of his provokes a storm of laughter which is audible above the din. Many people enter the merry-go-round. Here and there one catches a phrase “Room for one more on the zebra’s back,” “Which of you ladies?” “Ten heller for adults, five for children,” “Step right up”——

It is growing darker. A lamplighter crosses the stage, and begins unperturbedly lighting the colored gas-lamps. The whistle of a distant locomotive is heard. Suddenly the tumult ceases, the lights go out, and the curtain falls in darkness.

END OF PROLOGUE

LILIOM

[SCENE ONE]

SCENE—A lonely place in the park, half hidden by trees and shrubbery. Under a flowering acacia tree stands a painted wooden bench. From the distance, faintly, comes the tumult of the amusement park. It is the sunset of the same day.

When the curtain rises the stage is empty.

MARIE enters quickly, pauses at center, and looks back.

MARIE

Julie, Julie! [There is no answer.] Do you hear me, Julie? Let her be! Come on. Let her be. [Starts to go back.]

[JULIE enters, looks back angrily.]

JULIE

Did you ever hear of such a thing? What’s the matter with the woman anyway?

MARIE

[Looking back again.] Here she comes again.

JULIE

Let her come. I didn’t do anything to her. All of a sudden she comes up to me and begins to raise a row.

MARIE

Here she is. Come on, let’s run. [Tries to urge her off.]

JULIE

Run? I should say not. What would I want to run for? I’m not afraid of her.

MARIE

Oh, come on. She’ll only start a fight.

JULIE

I’m going to stay right here. Let her start a fight.

MRS. MUSKAT

[Entering.] What do you want to run away for? [To JULIE.] Don’t worry. I won’t eat you. But there’s one thing I want to tell you, my dear. Don’t let me catch you in my carousel again. I stand for a whole lot, I have to in my business. It makes no difference to me whether my customers are ladies or the likes of you—as long as they pay their money. But when a girl misbehaves herself on my carousel—out she goes. Do you understand?

JULIE

Are you talking to me?

MRS. MUSKAT

Yes, you! You—chamber-maid, you! In my carousel——

JULIE

Who did anything in your old carousel? I paid my fare and took my seat and never said a word, except to my friend here.

MARIE

No, she never opened her mouth. Liliom came over to her of his own accord.

MRS. MUSKAT

It’s all the same. I’m not going to get in trouble with the police, and lose my license on account of you—you shabby kitchen maid!

JULIE

Shabby yourself.

MRS. MUSKAT

You stay out of my carousel! Letting my barker fool with you! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?

JULIE

What? What did you say?

MRS. MUSKAT

I suppose you think I have no eyes in my head. I see everything that goes on in my carousel. During the whole ride she let Liliom fool with her—the shameless hussy!

JULIE

He did not fool with me! I don’t let any man fool with me!

MRS. MUSKAT

He leaned against you all through the ride!

JULIE

He leaned against the panther. He always leans against something, doesn’t he? Everybody leans where he wants. I couldn’t tell him not to lean, if he always leans, could I? But he didn’t lay a hand on me.

MRS. MUSKAT

Oh, didn’t he? And I suppose he didn’t put his hand around your waist, either?

MARIE

And if he did? What of it?

MRS. MUSKAT

You hold your tongue! No one’s asking you—just you keep out of it.

JULIE

He put his arm around my waist—just the same as he does to all the girls. He always does that.

MRS. MUSKAT

I’ll teach him not to do it any more, my dear. No carryings on in my carousel! If you are looking for that sort of thing, you’d better go to the circus! You’ll find lots of soldiers there to carry on with!

JULIE

You keep your soldiers for yourself!

MARIE

Soldiers! As if we wanted soldiers!

MRS. MUSKAT

Well, I only want to tell you this, my dear, so that we understand each other perfectly. If you ever stick your nose in my carousel again, you’ll wish you hadn’t! I’m not going to lose my license on account of the likes of you! People who don’t know how to behave, have got to stay out!

JULIE

You’re wasting your breath. If I feel like riding on your carousel I’ll pay my ten heller and I’ll ride. I’d like to see anyone try to stop me!

MRS. MUSKAT

Just come and try it, my dear—just come and try it.

MARIE

We’ll see what’ll happen.

MRS. MUSKAT

Yes, you will see something happen that never happened before in this park.

JULIE

Perhaps you think you could throw me out!

MRS. MUSKAT

I’m sure of it, my dear.

JULIE

And suppose I’m stronger than you?

MRS. MUSKAT

I’d think twice before I’d dirty my hands on a common servant girl. I’ll have Liliom throw you out. He knows how to handle your kind.

JULIE

You think Liliom would throw me out.

MRS. MUSKAT

Yes, my dear, so fast that you won’t know what happened to you!

JULIE

He’d throw me—— [Stops suddenly, for MRS. MUSKAT has turned away. Both look off stage until LILIOM enters, surrounded by four giggling servant girls.]

LILIOM

Go away! Stop following me, or I’ll smack your face!

A LITTLE SERVANT GIRL

Well, give me back my handkerchief.

LILIOM

Go on now——

THE FOUR SERVANT GIRLS

[Simultaneously.] What do you think of him?—My handkerchief!—Give it back to her!—That’s a nice thing to do!

THE LITTLE SERVANT GIRL

[To MRS. MUSKAT.] Please, lady, make him——

MRS. MUSKAT

Oh, shut up!

LILIOM

Will you get out of here? [Makes a threatening gesture—the four servant girls exit in voluble but fearful haste.]

MRS. MUSKAT

What have you been doing now?

LILIOM

None of your business. [Glances at JULIE.] Have you been starting with her again?

JULIE

Mister Liliom, please——

LILIOM

[Steps threateningly toward her.] Don’t yell!

JULIE

[Timidly.] I didn’t yell.

LILIOM

Well, don’t. [To MRS. MUSKAT.] What’s the matter? What has she done to you?

MRS. MUSKAT

What has she done? She’s been impudent to me. Just as impudent as she could be! I put her out of the carousel. Take a good look at this innocent thing, Liliom. She’s never to be allowed in my carousel again!

LILIOM

[To JULIE.] You heard that. Run home, now.

MARIE

Come on. Don’t waste your time with such people. [Tries to lead JULIE away.]

JULIE

No, I won’t——

MRS. MUSKAT

If she ever comes again, you’re not to let her in. And if she gets in before you see her, throw her out. Understand?

LILIOM

What has she done, anyhow?

JULIE

[Agitated and very earnest.] Mister Liliom—tell me please—honest and truly—if I come into the carousel, will you throw me out?

MRS. MUSKAT

Of course he’ll throw you out.

MARIE

She wasn’t talking to you.

JULIE

Tell me straight to my face, Mister Liliom, would you throw me out? [They face each other. There is a brief pause.]

LILIOM

Yes, little girl, if there was a reason—but if there was no reason, why should I throw you out?

MARIE

[To MRS. MUSKAT.] There, you see!

JULIE

Thank you, Mister Liliom.

MRS. MUSKAT

And I tell you again, if this little slut dares to set her foot in my carousel, she’s to be thrown out! I’ll stand for no indecency in my establishment.

LILIOM

What do you mean—indecency?

MRS. MUSKAT

I saw it all. There’s no use denying it.

JULIE

She says you put your arm around my waist.

LILIOM

Me?

MRS. MUSKAT

Yes, you! I saw you. Don’t play the innocent.

LILIOM

Here’s something new! I’m not to put my arm around a girl’s waist any more! I suppose I’m to ask your permission before I touch another girl!

MRS. MUSKAT

You can touch as many girls as you want and as often as you want—for my part you can go as far as you like with any of them—but not this one—I permit no indecency in my carousel. [There is a long pause.]

LILIOM

[To MRS. MUSKAT.] And now I’ll ask you please to shut your mouth.

MRS. MUSKAT

What?

LILIOM

Shut your mouth quick, and go back to your carousel.

MRS. MUSKAT

What?

LILIOM

What did she do to you, anyhow? Tryin’ to start a fight with a little pigeon like that . . . just because I touched her?—You come to the carousel as often as you want to, little girl. Come every afternoon, and sit on the panther’s back, and if you haven’t got the price, Liliom will pay for you. And if anyone dares to bother you, you come and tell me.

MRS. MUSKAT

You reprobate!

LILIOM

Old witch!

JULIE

Thank you, Mister Liliom.

MRS. MUSKAT

You seem to think that I can’t throw you out, too. What’s the reason I can’t? Because you are the best barker in the park? Well, you are very much mistaken. In fact, you can consider yourself thrown out already. You’re discharged!

LILIOM

Very good.

MRS. MUSKAT

[Weakening a little.] I can discharge you any time I feel like it.

LILIOM

Very good, you feel like discharging me. I’m discharged. That settles it.

MRS. MUSKAT

Playing the high and mighty, are you? Conceited pig! Good-for-nothing!

LILIOM

You said you’d throw me out, didn’t you? Well, that suits me; I’m thrown out.

MRS. MUSKAT

[Softening.] Do you have to take up every word I say?

LILIOM

It’s all right; it’s all settled. I’m a good-for-nothing. And a conceited pig. And I’m discharged.

MRS. MUSKAT

Do you want to ruin my business?

LILIOM

A good-for-nothing? Now I know! And I’m discharged! Very good.

MRS. MUSKAT

You’re a devil, you are . . . and that woman——

LILIOM

Keep away from her!

MRS. MUSKAT

I’ll get Hollinger to give you such a beating that you’ll hear all the angels sing . . . and it won’t be the first time, either.

LILIOM

Get out of here. I’m discharged. And you get out of here.

JULIE