Photo: Zsolt Mészáros / Weöres Sándor Theatre
It doesn't happen often. Most theatre evenings are enjoyable, then they fade. But the musical adaptation of The Paul Street Boys, which I saw at the Weöres Sándor Theatre in Szombathely, didn't fade at all. Weeks later, it still comes back to me — in quiet moments, unexpectedly, the way only truly meaningful things do.
A story that belongs to everyone
Ferenc Molnár's internationally celebrated coming-of-age novel is one of Hungary's most beloved literary works, and for good reason. It has inspired countless stage and screen adaptations over the decades — yet its emotional core never seems to age.
This musical version is the work of László Dés, Péter Geszti, and Krisztián Grecsó, and it does something rare: it stays faithful to the spirit of the original while giving it an entirely new emotional dimension through music. The idea was born in the wake of the 2005 television event The Great Book, the premiere took place in 2016 at the Vígszínház in Budapest, and it has been playing to full houses across the country ever since.
Seeing it come to life on the main stage in Szombathely made it feel like something entirely its own — intimate, immediate, and deeply felt.
A patch of land that becomes the whole world
Molnár's story begins with a description of a scrubby, uneven patch of Budapest ground — and yet, through the eyes of the boys who claim it as their own, it becomes the centre of the universe.
"This small, barren, uneven patch of Budapest earth…" is really a story about the boundlessness of a child's imagination.
It's about how friendship, loyalty, and courage can make even the most ordinary place feel worth fighting for. On stage, that idea didn't just get spoken — it was felt, with real weight and real stakes.
A birthday gift that gave more than an evening
This particular performance had a personal layer for me. As someone from Szombathely, I'd drifted away from the local theatre scene in recent years — but this year, we started finding our way back to it.
What made the evening even more special: the tickets were a birthday gift for my mother. And we only found out that morning that it was the very last performance of The Paul Street Boys in this run. That small, happy accident made us anticipate the evening even more — and it delivered everything we'd hoped for, and then some.
Familiar faces, unforgettable performances
Part of what made the experience so rich was that I recognised several of the cast members from earlier encounters. It was moving to see how those earlier impressions had grown into something so assured and fully realised on stage.
Nándor Jámbor as Boka, István Gyulai-Zékány as Áts Feri, László Márk Sipos as Kolnay, and Péter István Hajdu as Nemecsek all left a lasting mark. There wasn't a weak link in the ensemble — but these four gave the production its heartbeat and its rhythm.
The scene that hit hardest was the one where Nemecsek returns to defend the grund even while gravely ill. It was the dramatic peak of the evening, but more than that, it was emotionally overwhelming — capturing both the fierce determination of a child and the fragile, heartbreaking cost of it. This production didn't keep Nemecsek's fate at a safe distance. It brought it right up close.
Music that carries the story's soul
The score is one of the production's greatest strengths. The songs don't simply accompany the story — they are the story's emotional spine. In scene after scene, the music was what tipped the balance from moving to genuinely cathartic.
The song "Mi vagyunk a grund" ("We are the grund"), performed near the end, was one of those rare theatrical moments where everything converges. It wasn't just a well-known tune — it felt like an entire shared experience compressed into a few minutes: friendship, belonging, and childhood loyalty made suddenly, overwhelmingly real.
An evening when everything fell into place
Every element of this production felt purposeful — the choreography, the staging, the performances, the music. Cast members had travelled from different parts of the country to bring this to the stage, and that commitment showed in every scene.
When the standing ovation came at the end, it wasn't polite applause. It was a room full of people genuinely moved, all at the same moment.
The best night at the theatre I've ever had
I've been to theatres in Budapest and beyond. I've had wonderful evenings. But this was different — and it's hard to fully explain why. There was a clarity to it, a simplicity, a directness that went straight to the heart without any fuss.
The Paul Street Boys is more than a retelling of a classic. It's a reminder that somewhere inside all of us, there's still a "grund" — a place we'd fight for, a loyalty we'd never quite abandon. We just don't always let ourselves go back to it.
This production made me want to.
