L I L I O M A LEGEND IN SEVEN SCENES BY FERENC MOLNAR EDITED AND ADAPTED BY MARK JACKSON FROM AN ENGLISH TEXT BY BENJAMIN F. GLAZER v2.5 This adaptation of Liliom Copyright © 2014 Mark Jackson All rights strictly reserved. For all inquiries regarding production, publication, or any other public or private use of this play in part or in whole, please contact: Mark Jackson email:
[email protected] www.markjackson-theatermaker.com CAST OF CHARACTERS (4w;4m) Marie / Stenographer Julie / Louise Mrs Muskat Liliom Policeman / The Guard Mrs Hollunder / The Magistrate Ficsur / A Poorly Dressed Man Wolf Beifeld / Linzman / Carpenter / A Richly Dressed Man SCENES (done minimally and expressively) FIRST SCENE — A lonely place in the park. SECOND SCENE — Mrs. Hollunder’s photographic studio. 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, sixteen years later. A NOTE (on time & place) The current draft retains Molnar’s original 1909 Budapest setting. With minimal adjustments the play could easily be reset in early twentieth century America. Though I wonder whether certain of the social attitudes—toward soldiers, for example— would transfer neatly, certainly an American setting could embody Molnar’s complex critique of gender, class, and racial tensions. That said, retaining Molnar’s original setting perhaps now adds to his intention to fashion an expressionist theatrical legend, while still allowing for the strikingly contemporary themes that prompted me to write this adaptation—among them how Liliom struggles and fails to change in the face of economic and social flux; that women run the businesses, Heaven included; and Julie’s independent, confidently anti-conventional point of view.