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1

Fluctuat nec mergitur

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Ciechowicz J.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2013

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vol. 62

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issue 1(245)

48–61

EN

Pamiętnik Teatralny, the best Polish (quarterly) academic journal devoted to “history and critique of theatre”, was established in 1952, that is, half a century after Pamiętnik Literacki, the best Polish literary criticism journal. After the death of Leon Schiller, an outstanding man of theatre and the journal’s founder, Pamiętnik Teatralny gained its subheading: “A Quarterly Journal of Theatre History and Criticism, Established by Leon Schiller”. Since its first issues, the cover of the journal has featured a Latin sentence: fluctuat nec mergitur, which is incidentally also the motto of the city of Paris and can be translated as: “it is tossed by the waves, but does not sink.” The motto is accompanied by a picture by unknown author, depicting a “pile” with a theatre mask, a mirror and a harp in the foreground, which is a metaphor of theatre as such. Almost right after Schiller’s death, from 1956 up to 1992, the helm was taken over by the excellent tandem of editors-andprofessors, Zbigniew Raszewski and Bohdan Korzeniewski. From 1952 to 1992, 164 issues of the journal were published, including 37 monographic volumes that had been building the exceptionally high academic prestige of the periodical from its very beginnings.

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Recenzja książki Magdalen Hasiuk, „Okrutnie dziwna strona” świata. Wokół teatru więziennego (Oficyna Wydawnicza Errata, Warszawa 2015)

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Chojnacka A., Hasiuk M.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2016

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vol. 65

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issue 3(259)

208-217

EN

The book by Magdalena Hasiuk is the first monograph of Polish prison theatre. The author presents the theatrical work carried on in Polish prisons today against a broad historical background (starting with the gladiator fights, through acts of public executions and punishments, up to the 20th-century penitentiary system reform) and within a rich geographical context (the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy). By describing and analysing the phenomenon, Hasiuk presents the world of isolation, the problems and emotions of inmates. She pays much attention to women leaders of prison theatre. She believes that the penal institutions have been changing thanks to their presence. Hasiuk distinguishes seven types of prison theatre that differ with respect to what goals the leaders intend to accomplish and what methods they use to get there. Despite this variety, all theatrical activity in prisons is therapeutic. The theatre of the essence, which not only teaches social skills but also aims at transforming the inmates, offers the highest grade of therapy. This is how artist and therapist Krzysztof Papis works. The author deems the therapeutic role of prison theatre to be its most essential aspect, but her research goes further than that. She refers not only to psychological and sociological theories, but also to the work of cultural scholars, theatre theoreticians, and artists. She compares the experience of incarceration and later release from prison to a ritual. She finds traces of the theories and theatre practice of Brook and Grotowski. She shows how the new media are utilised in prison theatre performances. She finds common features of three different social institutions: the convent, the theatre, and the prison. She describes the stage and the prison alike as a space full of locked doors, restrictions that need to be overcome. The motif of crossing the boundaries permeates the whole book. The inmates, leaders, and viewers are all the ones crossing such physical and internal boundaries. Prison theatre requires further research with a necessary participation of psychologists and sociologists. It can change not only prisoners, but also the leaders and the whole penal institution. This monograph, apart from its scholarly merit, carries a profoundly humanist message that we refrain from judgment and try to meet with the other—the excluded. Such description of the prison theatre in Poland would not have been possible if it was not for the author’s personal experience which involved interviews with theatre leaders, inmates, and spectators and watching the rehearsals and performances.

3

Brytyjczycy i Amerykanie o teatrze polskim lat zaborów

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Deles P., Żuchowski S.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 3(263)

135-170

EN

The publication consists of fragments of 43 English-language texts of varied character, including classic travel accounts, autobiographies, reportages, reminiscences, as well as analytical or problem-focused studies. What they have in common is that their authors share their observations and experiences relating to the theatres and theatre life in the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the post-partitioning period of 1795–1918. The set is organized chronologically, opening with an account from 1804 and concluding with a report from 1915, so all the documents come from a time after the Third Partition, and several of the latest date from the First World War. They talk about the National Theatre headed by Wojciech Bogusławski, about Franciszek Bohomolec, and Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, about the legendary 1899 production of Kordian in Cracow, and about the first tango in the Warsaw Nowości Theatre in 1915. They include information about theatre buildings and halls, actors, and repertories, about the way partition authorities related to the Polish theatre, about the audiences and the way they responded in Warsaw, Vilnius, Zamość, Cracow, Lvov, Gdańsk, Poznań, and Kalisz, about the curtain by Henryk Siemiradzki, and about the world-famous Polish actress, Helena Modrzejewska. The period in which the texts were written spans over a hundred years, meaning that the political and social conditions during that time were evolving, which, along with the political views of the authors, influenced the writing perspectives. Thus, the pieces that have been collected here do not form a consistent thematic whole, as they refer to different contexts; nevertheless, they do provide a lot of precious pieces of information and observations that are all the more interesting for having been made by foreigners: people from the outside. The edition is supplied with footnotes with biographical information about the authors of respective accounts.

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Recenzja książki Małgorzat Bruder, Janusza Deglera, Budynki i wnętrza teatrów w Europie na dawnej pocztówce z kolekcji Janusza Deglera

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Komorowski J.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 1-2(261-262)

323-327

EN

In the Henryk Tomaszewski Museum of Theatre that opened in Wrocław on 26–27 March 2017, among other exhibitions devoted to outstanding individuals, there is also The Study of Professor Janusz Degler, which houses the library donated to the Museum by the professor who is a theatre and Witkacy scholar of international renown. And it is here that Professor Degler’s collection of postcards—or more precisely, a carefully selected part of it, a few hundred of several thousand items—has been displayed. This part of the collection is also presented in the wonderfully edited Polish–English catalogue with colour reproductions of the exhibits. There are exactly 597 of them, and additional two in the introductory part. The book takes us on a marvellous journey to the most distant theatrical corners of Europe. We travel from Paris to Petersburg in a blink of an eye. The images change in quick succession, as if in a kaleidoscope: theatre houses great and small, of brick and of wood, historically significant and completely forgotten. The authors of the catalogue rightly boast that it is the first publication in the world to present a unique collection of old postcards displaying theatre architecture. And the exhibition in Wrocław, along with the whole Museum of Theatre, is well worth visiting.

5

Felicji Kruszewskiej przygoda z teatrem

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Piekut M.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 4(264)

62-82

EN

A production of Sen [“A Dream”] by Felicja Kruszewska was Edmund Wierciński’s directorial debut. It is difficult to pinpoint when exactly he picked the drama for staging. His correspondence with Maria Wiercińska, his wife and actress who played one of the leading parts in the play, implies that the decision had already been taken in January 1927 and that by that time the work on the play was in full swing. Yet a letter written by the playwright to the director in the later half of February 1927 would make one believe that preliminary talks only just started at that time. The show premiered on 17 March 1927 at the Na Pochulance Theatre, and it was the first presentation of Kruszewska’s work as playwright. Felicja Kruszewska was born in Podolia in 1897; she studied literature on her own and taught herself French and English. Then she studied Polish and English philology at the University of Warsaw and journalism at the School of Political Sciences (Szkoła Nauk Politycznych). She was a humanist by education and an active patriot who served as a medical technician near the end of the First World War and was part of the Home Army underground during the Second World War. She died in unknown circumstances in 1943. She debuted in the press as a poet in 1921 and soon afterwards published two volumes of poetry, Przedwiośnie [“First Spring”] (1923) and Stąd – dotąd [“From There to Here”] (1925). She wrote Sen in 1925 (it appeared in print in 1927). In the following years, she published subsequent books of her poetry as well as autobiographical short stories. Her novel for young adults, Bolesław Chrobry, and drama Pożar teatru [“Theatre on Fire”] burned during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The Vilnius opening night caught attention of the public and received numerous reviews. Reviewers, including a well-known Vilnius critic, Czesław Jankowski, indicated some flaws in the literary text, which spurred students from the Polish Philology Circle at the Batory University to defend the drama’s merit. Having left the Reduta, Wierciński wanted to find a place that would allow him and other secessionists to carry on their artistic experiments. Wierciński’s letters to his wife document his search and the final agreement he reached with the manager of the Nowy Theatre in Poznań, where the group of former Reduta actors eventually found work. In Poznań, Wierciński put on Sen as well. And here too, the show caught interest of the audience and critics, which was reported regularly by the local press. The public wanted to watch Sen so much that the theatre postponed the premiere of Gwałtu, co się dzieje [“What the Devil Is Going On?”], a popular comedy by Fredro. In May 1928 when it was performed in Warsaw, Sen attracted large audiences and received numerous reviews in the press, including positive ones by Irzykowski and Horzyca, and a crushing one by Słonimski. It enjoyed similar success in Łódź in 1929, where the play sparked the interest of both the audience and the critics. The last part of the publication contains letters written by the playwright to the director in 1927–1928. Seven of them have survived, and they are currently held in the Special Collections of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (Archiwum Wiercińskich, 1209/5, ff. 37–48). In a February 1927 letter, Kruszewska discusses what she would want to see on the stage, but her remarks do not go beyond her stage directions in the play. In the first letters, she is both bashful and overjoyed; she is first happy that the theatre has taken interest in her play and then satisfied with the effect achieved on stage. In her latest letters she writes about the scene where the Black Army enters the town to take hold of it. She stresses that the crowd should be enthusiastic and not desolate. At the same time, she makes it clear that her comment is limited to interpretation, and where the form is concerned the director is free to do as he pleases.

6

Recenzja książki Doroty Jarząbek-Wasyl, Za kulisami. Narodziny przedstawienia w teatrze polskim w XIX wieku

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Raszewska M.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 1-2(261-262)

308-316

EN

Za kulisami. Narodziny przedstawienia w teatrze polskim w XIX wieku [Backstage. The Birth of Performance in the Polish Theatre of the 19th Century] by Dorota Jarząbek-Wasyl is the author’s habilitation thesis (Jagiellonian University, 2016). The author, based on impressive library research, presents all aspects of the theatre’s workings, all that happens behind the curtain. She studies official documents (announcements, books of ordinances and orders, work logs) as well as memoirs, letters, and press reports (from an era when “behind-the-scenes” and “inside-the-artist’s-studio” reportages just started becoming popular). Jarząbek-Wasyl uses materials known to theatre historians in a new way: they are not employed for analysing a performance but for describing the process of its production. The author presents a world of personages that no longer exist (such as the theatre copyist, or woźny [assistant house manager]) and notions unknown for today’s theatre-goers (rola [role, part] understood as the actor’s part of the script). The readers get to know the backstage area, its topography and architecture (so much less interesting for the audience than the stage), theatre customs, and finally, problems with costumes, grease paints, fellow actresses, and prejudices. We get a chance to see the process of creating a role and how it changes over the years. This is a book about a veritable maze of the theatre, a maze inaccessible to most viewers.

7

Powojenny teatr w Polsce

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Barba E., Partyga E.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 1-2(261-262)

11-19

EN

The essay published in Vinduet in 1963 characterises what the author takes to be the most notable features of the phenomenon of Polish theatre life. By way of introduction, Barba outlines some historical background and then goes on to recount the work of selected theatre directors (Axer, Dejmek, Skuszanka, Swinarski, and most of all, Grotowski) and stage designers (paying most of his attention to Szajna). He is also interested in the teaching of acting and directing at Polish theatre schools, in how the companies are organised, in the amateur and student theatre life, and the development of Polish drama (Broszkiewicz, Mrożek, and Gombrowicz). The portrayal of a blooming theatre life and its multifarious development in Poland was meant to be a challenge and inspiration for the Norwegian artists and intellectuals.

8

Cztery noty o Witkacym

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Degler J.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2016

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vol. 65

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issue 4(260)

113-139

EN

The monographic issue of Pamiętnik Teatralny (1985, vols 1–4) devoted to S. I. Witkiewicz on the centennial of his birth, an occasion noted in the UNESCO Calendar of Anniversaries of Great Personalities and Events, featured a text by Jan Kott which comprised six Notes. Each of them had a title and indicated possible sources of inspiration of some works, i.a. The Water Hen, which is ridden with motifs characteristic for modernist dramaturgy, e.g. Lulu by Frank Wedekind. Kott concluded his notes by asserting: “Witkacy the modernist, the historical, anachronistic and decadent one, is still waiting for his director and for his appearance on stage.” It has been fifteen years since Jan Kott passed away on 23 December 2001. These four notes have been written in his memory. 1. Did Witkacy Intend to Return to the Tropics? On 9 April 1918, Maria Witkiewiczowa, Witkacy’s mother, sent a postcard to her friend, Leon Chwistek’s sister, reporting that she had received a letter from her son in Petrograd with the news that he was planning “to return to Poland or to travel to Sumatra.” Enclosed with the letter was the now famous “Multiple Portrait” photograph. Witkacy’s travel with Bronisław Malinowski to the tropics, which began in June 1914 and ended in October of the same year when Witkacy arrived in Petrograd, was an important experience for Witkacy and influenced his painting and other creative work (stories of several of his plays were set in the tropics). Though fascinated with tropical wildlife and nature, like Gauguin and several other artists, he decided not to go to Sumatra; instead, he returned to Poland in July 1918 and described his Ceylon experiences in the reportage “Podróż do Tropików” (‘A Voyage to the Tropics’) that appeared in Echo Tatrzańskie (1919). 2. The Puzzle of Prologue to Pentemychos i Jej Niedoszły Wychowanek The Jadwiga Witkiewiczowa archive contains a single page with a German-language piece of verse which is a fragment of the prologue of the now lost play Pentemychos i Jej niedoszły wychowanek (‘Pentemychos and Her Would-be Pupil’). Witkacy wrote it at the beginning of 1920 and sent its copy to Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz in September 1921 suggesting that it be put on for the opening of the Elsynor Theatre founded by members of the Skamander group. There was, however, no actress to perform the “wonderful female part,” and only the premiere of The Pragmatists took place (29 Dec. 1921). In 1922, while in Zakopane, Witkacy met Ms. Eckert of Hamburg; he gave her a copy of The Water Hen, and she promised to recommend it to a theatre producer in Hamburg. Probably the hope for success of her mission spurred Witkacy to entrust one of his friends with translating Pentemychos i Jej niedoszły kochanek into German. The anticipated Hamburg premiere never panned out. The surviving fragment of the Prologue is probably a part of the aforementioned translation. 3. Witkacy “Honeycombed with Childishness,” or a DIY Way of Improving One’s Kaleidoscope Witkacy had a great sense of humour and exceptional acting talents; he liked putting on a show to spice things up for himself and his friends; he had been known to surprise those around him by making “monstrous faces” and acting in an unconventional way. He had been a passionate collector since childhood. He collected walking sticks and various curios, which he put in his “albums of curiosities.” He was always on the lookout for fun. His favourite toy was a kaleidoscope. He wrote a detailed manual on how to improve it so that anyone could change the images it produced whenever they liked. 4. Grotowski and Witkacy As a student of the Cracow theatre school, Jerzy Grotowski planned to put on The Shoemakers at Wawel in the school year of 1958-59. The school authorities did not approve, and as a result, Grotowski dropped out of school and went to Opole where he became the artistic manager of the 13 Rzędów Theatre. In his first productions, he harked back to the tradition of the Romantics and to Witkacy (i.a. in Kain). When the editorial board of Teatr asked him whose portrait he would hang up in his directorial office, Grotowski replied that it would be of four “martyrs” of the theatre: Artaud, Witkacy, Meyerhold, and Stanislavsky. He was also interested in Witkacy’s theatrical experiences during his stay in Russia in 1914–1918. This issue is, however, still open, requiring archival research.

9

„Burzliwy i krańcowy protest przeciwko naturalizmowi Reduty”. Debiut reżyserski Edmunda Wiercińskiego

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Chojnacka A.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 4(264)

43-61

EN

The premiere of Sen [“A Dream”] by Felicja Kruszewska put on by the Reduta took place on 27 March 1927 in the Na Pohulance Theatre with stage setting designed by Iwo Gall and music composed by Edward Dziewulski. It was Edmund Wierciński’s directorial debut. The artist had been a member of the Reduta company, ran by Osterwa and Limanowski, since 1921. It was where he studied acting and directing. He gained some valuable experience in directing and staging when the Reduta toured the Eastern Borderlands in 1924. The company performed in halls unfit for the purpose and showed Schiller’s Wielkanoc [“The Easter”] outdoor more than a dozen times, which required numerous staging alterations. Wierciński was the one to make them, since he was the artistic director of the whole enterprise. In 1925 the Reduta moved to Vilnius. The company ceased to be a laboratory theatre it had been; as the only theatre in town it had to attract audiences; the methods of work changed, the number of premiere shows increased while the number of rehearsals and the amounts of time spent on thorough analysis of the dramas decreased; and the repertory now included best selling shows. The level of artistic quality lowered; and the search for novel means of artistic expression was replaced with naturalism. Wierciński would not accept it. His production of Sen was, as he put it, “a tempestuous and radical protest against the naturalism of the Reduta.” Girl, the protagonist of the play, has a dream that she has been entrusted with a mission to rescue her town from the Black Army. No one except for her sees the danger; no one understands her, and everybody is trying to set her back. The drama can be interpreted in various ways. In reference to the interwar period, the most viable reading is that it portrays Poland that has regained independence but is not able to really put it to her advantage, accepting the societal mediocrity and low morality. Wierciński wrung out the whole emotionally charged meaning of the text, thus putting on an expressionist show that relied heavily on deformation, caricature, mechanic movements, and repetitive gestures and sounds. Nothing looked onstage as it did in reality. Wierciński himself took on the part of Green Clown [Zielony Pajac], the most grotesque character of all. Most of the theatre reviewers criticised the drama, but they all agreed in their high appraisal of the theatrical production. Osterwa, however, deemed the show to be contrary to the Reduta values, which led to a split within the company. Wierciński with a group of other artists left the Reduta. The secessionists were then hired for a short period of time by the Nowy Theatre in Poznań, where Wierciński put on Sen again in September 1927. For the third time, he directed the play by Kruszewska at the Miejskie Theatres in Łódź in 1929. Wierciński was known to analyse his works thoroughly and eagerly. He considered Sen to be a necessary step for the development of theatre, yet he saw the pitfalls of venturing further in this direction, which might lead to the primacy of director and form over the creative potential of actors that would then be lost and unappreciated. All in all, Wierciński believed that the theatre should give precedence to the drama and playwright in determining the form of the play and that actors ought to be fully appreciated for their participation and involvement in the creative process. He followed these principles in his theatrical work more and more noticeably. His directorial debut was a spectacular protest that marked the beginning of an artistic journey from expressionism and dominance of form, through naturalism and socially engaged theatre, to the great poetic drama, from the primacy of form to a synthesis.

10

SPATIF Leona Schillera

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Chojnacka A.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2012

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vol. 61

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issue 1-2(241-242)

143-210

EN

The Society of Polish Theatre and Film Artists (Stowarzyszenie Polskich Artystów Teatru i Filmu: SPATiF) was a continuation of the Polish Stage Artists Union (Związek Artystów Scen Polskich; ZASP) established by and for actors and directors in 1918. Leon Schiller had been its active member since the beginning. ZASP had made it its goal to evaluate and improve its members’ professional qualifications, and took care of various organisational and artistic matters. During the Second World War, the union organised help for actors in need and took part in some activities of the Polish underground. In 1945, as more and more of Poland’s territory was being freed from the Nazi oppression, new theatre companies and local trade union organisations were being formed. The Communist government, however, aimed at bringing all trade unions into submission. Thus, in 1949, a decision to dissolve six trade unions of artists, including ZASP, was made. Soon afterwards, they were all replaced by a single Trade Union of Arts and Culture Workers (Związek Zawodowy Pracowników Sztuki i Kultury) which was controlled by the Central Council of Trade Unions (Centralna Rada Związków Zawodowych), with party dignitaries holding the reins. Actors and directors were right to conclude that the new union would not represent their interests properly and decided to establish their own organisation. The process of its formation was controlled by the party. SPATiF was established at the Formation Conference held on 11 and 12 of July 1950. Schiller became its first president and right at the start presented an extensive programme. He proposed repertories with Romantic drama, professional and ideological training courses, organisation of a central library, publishing of theatrological literature and the society’s own periodical, and organisation of artistic councils in theatres. The assumption was that the society would have real influence on decisions concerning theatre. Yet SPATiF was not a trade union, and it was ignored by the government. The Managerial Board of SPATiF organised local branches of the Society but focused its activity on Warsaw. The organisation managed to collect a substantial number of books for its library; it organised numerous lectures, discussions, courses, meetings with artists from abroad, and actors’ jubilees. The Society engaged in important cultural and political events, i.e. general election to Sejm in 1952 or the Tenth Anniversary of the People’s Republic of Poland celebrations. It provided social help for its members and their families, and funded the Shelter for Veteran Artists in Skolimów. Despite numerous efforts of the President and the whole SPATiF, it had been impossible to establish any satisfactory principles of cooperation between the Society and the Central Management of Theatres Office, the Ministry of Culture and the Trade Union of Arts and Culture Workers. Schiller died on 25 March 1954. His duties were taken over by Vice-President Marian Wyrzykowski. The first General Meeting of the Society Members took place in 1955. Neither then nor later did the relations between SPATiF and the government improve.

11

Powojenne listy Leona Schillera

80%

Chojnacka A.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2014

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vol. 63

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issue 1-2(249-250)

14-46

EN

Throughout his life, Leon Schiller conducted extensive professional and private correspondence. Many of his letters perished; most of those written before the war were lost along with the whole private archive of the artist during the Second World War, and only a part of those from the post-war period found their way to document archives and museum collections. More than a hundred of the preserved letters have already been published. Now we are publishing sixteen letters from 1946–1953. Schiller corresponded with his sister Anna Jackowska for dozens of years from the moment he left the family home in 1908. He wrote about his professional and family matters, recounted his impressions from his journeys, and talked about his theatre projects, dilemmas and feelings. The letters to Jackowska are very personal. From the post-war period only five of these have survived: two letters from 1946, two others from 1948 and one from 1952. The ones from the second half of the 1940s show great enthusiasm. The director is making sweeping individual plans, but also wants to organise the whole theatre life in the country.

12

„Do nieba? Bluźnisz daremnie”. Faust – Marlowe – Grotowski

80%

Kosiński D.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2016

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vol. 65

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issue 1-2(257-258)

5-49

EN

The article deals with the production of Tragiczne dzieje doktora Fausta (The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus) after Christopher Marlowe directed by Jerzy Grotowski and put on by the Laboratorium 13 Rzędów Theatre in Opole (premiered on 23 April 1963). The show became famous mostly for Zbigniew Cynkutis’ outstanding performance in the title role and Jerzy Gurawski’s stage set. It was also the first of Grotowski’s productions that garnered international acclaim. Until now, however, not enough attention has been paid to its dramaturgy and overall significance as an autonomous piece of artistic expression; instead, it has been viewed mostly as a step on the way to Grotowski’s more mature theatre. By reconstructing and recounting the particular scenes in chronological order the author presents his own interpretation of each of them and of the performance as a whole. Through this process, almost scandalous associations of great historical and ethical themes (e.g. theology after the Holocaust) with personal struggles with private inhibitions and intimate experiences can be found. It is through such associations that Tragiczne dzieje doktora Fausta was named “a mystery of awe and wonder.”

13

Pocztówki z piekła. Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz w Paryżu 1908

80%

Sztaba W.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2016

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vol. 65

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issue 4(260)

55-70

EN

We know little about Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz’s stay in Paris in the spring of 1908; we do not know the letters to his father where he probably reported what he experienced there, and the correspondent letters by his father contain few traces of such reports. Traces of the stay have, however, made their way to his literary creations: he recounted his impressions of his encounter with the new painting in The 622 Downfalls of Bungo, whereas The Beelzebub Sonata contains evidence of his visits to Paris cabarets, particularly to L’Enfer and Le Néant. The playwright suggests that the Hell of Acts 2 and 3 is to resemble a cabaret in Paris—and a little Budapestian—or in Rio (Salon di Gioja), but mostly Parisian, which he repeats in the play on numerous occasions, including the opening-scene stage directions where he emphasises, importantly, the general atmosphere of demonic tackiness of such entertainment establishments. Reading contemporary reports and looking at old postcards and photographs of the cabarets’ interiors one can see just what Witkacy meant by tackiness. And one can imagine an atmosphere he strove for in the stage setting for The Beelzebub Sonata. Knowing Witkacy’s penchant for the macabre, one can guess that he visited the Grand-Guignol Theatre. And probably the Musée Grévin, too. While Witkacy stayed in Paris, a theatrical event of great importance—the greatest importance, indeed, from today’s point of view—took place. The Antoine Theatre gave two performances of Ubu Roi by Jarry with Firmin Gémier. They were only afternoon performances, but they were widely publicised. Did Witkacy take notice? Twenty years later, Ubu Roi cropped up, perhaps as a reminiscence from Paris, in his letter to Edmund Wierciński, where he recommended some plays for the repertory: “By the French, Roi Ubu, I don’t recall the author’s name.”

14

„Takie samo miejsce” dla „orłów i komarów Parnasu”, czyli jaki dramat (i jaki teatr dla tego dramatu) zaprojektowali nasi oświeceni

80%

Ratajczak D.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

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2017

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vol. 66

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issue 3(263)

5-15

EN

The intent of the article has been to demonstrate how goals set by Polish Enlighteners for the theatre and the assumptions they shared, coupled with the circumstances and conditions of theatre entrepreneurship at the time, led willy-nilly to the formation of a popular theatre and the development of analogical popular drama. For it would be a gross misunderstanding to treat this theatre and drama as a highly artistic enterprise, even though the resultant institution was flexible enough to be able to put on other kinds of shows as well. Nonetheless, such attributes as the theatre’s educative and utilitarian qualities, i.e. that it was politically engaged, responsive to the current realities of life, programmatic, entertainment-oriented, and willing to perform for a broad spectrum of audiences, are indeed marks of its popular character. A pragmatic approach to the stage was reinforced by the royal subsidies as well. In this situation, a new profession of the repertory supplier emerged, represented not only by Jan Baudouin or Franciszek Zabłocki, but also by numerous other authors who tried their hand at playwriting, even though they had not been involved in writing literature before. And since the theatre audiences were quickly gaining autonomy and soon started making their own demands, it became clear that the neoclassical aesthetic was bound to give way to non-classical tendencies. What emerged was a generally popular form of theatre enterprise that became a major influence on the ensuing development and evolution of the 19th-century stage. The intent of the article has been to demonstrate how goals set by Polish Enlighteners for the theatre and the assumptions they shared, coupled with the circumstances and conditions of theatre entrepreneurship at the time, led willy-nilly to the formation of a popular theatre and the development of analogical popular drama. For it would be a gross misunderstanding to treat this theatre and drama as a highly artistic enterprise, even though the resultant institution was flexible enough to be able to put on other kinds of shows as well. Nonetheless, such attributes as the theatre’s educative and utilitarian qualities, i.e. that it was politically engaged, responsive to the current realities of life, programmatic, entertainment-oriented, and willing to perform for a broad spectrum of audiences, are indeed marks of its popular character. A pragmatic approach to the stage was reinforced by the royal subsidies as well. In this situation, a new profession of the repertory supplier emerged, represented not only by Jan Baudouin or Franciszek Zabłocki, but also by numerous other authors who tried their hand at playwriting, even though they had not been involved in writing literature before. And since the theatre audiences were quickly gaining autonomy and soon started making their own demands, it became clear that the neoclassical aesthetic was bound to give way to non-classical tendencies. What emerged was a generally popular form of theatre enterprise that became a major influence on the ensuing development and evolution of the 19th-century stage.

15

Listy Anieli Aszpergerowej do rodziny Młodnickich

80%

Kubik A.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

|

2017

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vol. 66

|

issue 1-2(261-262)

209-225

EN

This is an edition of previously unpublished letters written by actress Aniela Aszperger (1816–1904) to Wanda and Karol Młodnicki and to their daughter, Maryla Wolska. The letters, covering the years 1874–1901, come from the Home Archive of the Pawlikowskis, now in the collection of the Jagiellonian Library. The correspondence contains much information relating to the realities of Aniela Aszperger’s life, reveals her character traits and personality, which may come in handy in interpreting her acting. The letters are also a valuable document of an artistic friendship. The correspondence is prefaced with a biographical note on Aszperger, who debuted in 1835 in Warsaw, but for most of her professional life was associated with Lemberg (Lwów), for a number of years being the toast of the stage at the Skarbkowski Theatre. Being active in the social and political life of the city, she became a living legend. The biographical note brings a number of new findings and clarifies some details of fact.

16

Słowacki na uniwersytecie

80%

Jędrychowski Z.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

|

2016

|

vol. 65

|

issue 1-2(257-258)

114-138

EN

The article presents the time spanning 1825–1828, when Julisz Słowacki studied at Vilnius University; it specifies and describes the places where he lived for longer periods of time. The article also describes the location of Belweder, the summer residence and garden of August Bécu, to which Słowacki often went for a stroll. The article fills some gaps concerning the poet’s student life. Thanks to discovering a copy of the diploma, the mark transcript and some information concerning the completion of studies, the author has been able to determine which students of the Faculty of Moral and Political Sciences received a monetary prize, who was awarded an honourable mention, what the subject of Słowacki’s final paper was and when Słowacki left Vilnius for good.

17

Pamięć o dawnym teatrze

80%

Kencki P.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

|

2013

|

vol. 62

|

issue 1(245)

69–76

EN

The text constitutes an attempt at summarising the presence of old-theatre, and especially old-Polish-theatre, related themes in Pamiętnik Teatralny. In particular, who among theatre scholars, literature historians, historians of art, musicologists or historians studying the older epochs collaborated with our quarterly? Then, what were the subjects addressed (old European theatre, old Polish spectacles, Oriental traditions) and what monographic issues were devoted to the stages of the First Polish Republic or the beginnings of the National Theatre. The last part of the article deals with the policy of successive editorial boards concerning the presence of old theatre history in Pamiętnik Teatralny.

18

Aktor w rekonstrukcjach dramatu liturgicznego

80%

Kornaś T.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

|

2013

|

vol. 62

|

issue 2(246)

117-133

EN

For almost twenty years now, Schola of the Wegajty Theatre has been presenting reconstructions of medieval liturgical plays trying to reinstate them as part of celebrations of the Catholic Church. Some of the prepared performances were Ordo Stellae according to the 12th-century Fleury Playbook manuscript, another 12th-century play Ludus Danielis from the same Fleury compilation, a 13th-century Ludus Passionis from the Carmina Burana code, or Ludus Paschalis comprising plays and dramatised liturgies of Easter (mostly after Polish sources). But is the return of such plays to the liturgy (today’s liturgy) possible? Comparing the medieval performing practice (or the current views on what itcould have looked like) with artistic actions of Schola the article traces possible similarities and differences between them. Schola of the Węgajty Theatre is made up of laypersons, including women. How does this situation influence the characterof liturgical plays? A priest always participates in these “reconstructions”... Towhat extent is his presence liturgical and to what extent is it theatrical? How tofind a place for a liturgical play in a church? What costumes to use? How to reconstruct gesture? How to decipher and sing neumes? These are just a few of dozens of questions coming to mind that this text attempts to examine.

19

Egzemplarz teatralny – między repertuarem a archiwum

80%

Poskuta-Włodek D.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

|

2016

|

vol. 65

|

issue 1-2(257-258)

50-74

EN

For contemporary scholarship, the status of sources to theatre history is changing, and they are therefore subject to attempts at redefining them. On the one hand, development of new technologies enables us to gain almost limitless access to archival documents; on the other hand, however, some doubts are raised concerning the point of their use, since it is impossible to reconstruct or recount a theatre performance from the past based on them, anyway. Yet it is the essence of the theatre historian’s method to constantly experience the rudimentariness of artefacts and ephemerality of theatre. For Polish researchers of younger generations, studying sources does not preclude interest in performance. The issue of theatre memory and the writing or rewriting of history is prevalent in new theories and methods. Ever-newer propositions of tackling it are advanced, e.g. the archive versus repertoire concepts derived from Diane Taylor’s reflexion or ideas based on Rebecca Schneider’s reflexion about the body as archive versus the body as memory medium. Theoretical classification propositions stemming from the notion that some documents become petrified and others need to be made with an ideal recording of performance in mind, which were put forward by Stefania Skwarczyńska, need to be revised, whereas Zbigniew Raszewski’s take on the documentation problem, closer to that of performance studies, turns out to be still useful, which can be confirmed by the on-growing supply of hard-copy and digital documentation that forces us to look for a new classification of it and to acknowledge that all kinds of source documentation to the history of theatre, and theatrical copies in particular, have performative qualities. Their variety and transitional character of the latter makes it possible to acknowledge the performativity of theatre history sources, which could become a common ground for the classical history and new methodological inquiries.

20

Kantorowskie wynalazki. Między przedmiotem magicznym a maszyną

80%

Fazan K.

Pamiętnik Teatralny

|

2015

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vol. 64

|

issue 2(254)

67-96

EN

Objects of Kantor’s imagination filled his paintings, theatrical productions and writings. The article reflects upon their material existence in the performances and their subsequent “museum life”, freed from the context of theatrical performance. Objects of Kantor’s art are viewed here both as embodiments of an eternal dream of theatre involving a mechanical invention that would live in art and as consequences of the avant-garde search for form arising from critical reflexion on technological and cultural progress. Such an object is, thus, a magical form yielding circus-like and ludic effects within a theatrical performance and a machine, or apparatus, employing modern technology and entering into ambivalent relationships with human presence. Machine is a human invention (made by a miracle man, artist, engineer, researcher) and a projection of dreams and anxieties experienced by the individual subjected to pressures of technological progress. Tadeusz Kantor had a peculiar way of taking note of this function; during the Second World War he introduced Goplana not through a performing actress that would represent the fairy-tale character of Julisz Słowacki’s Romantic drama but through the “razor of history”, a formal construction threatening in its expressive qualities (Balladyna, 1943). He created intuitive spaces of exclusion in the form of the Aneantisation Machine for his production of The Madman and the Nun (1963) based on Stanisław I. Witkiewicz’s drama and the Final Judgment Trumpet in Gdzie są niegdysiejsze śniegi (“Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear”, 1973). He treated his inventions as discoveries of unbridled artistic imagination (emballages, cambriolages, ready-mades feeding off reality), as objects of prophecies, apocalyptic visions or historiosophical and metaphysical conclusions: Mr Daguerre’s Invention (Wielopole, Wielopole, 1980), Bodies of Power (“Organa władzy”) in Dziś są moje urodziny (“Today Is My Birthday”, 1990). To him, an object was an actor.

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Fluctuat nec mergitur

Recenzja książki Magdalen Hasiuk, „Okrutnie dziwna strona” świata. Wokół teatru więziennego (Oficyna Wydawnicza Errata, Warszawa 2015)

Brytyjczycy i Amerykanie o teatrze polskim lat zaborów

Recenzja książki Małgorzat Bruder, Janusza Deglera, Budynki i wnętrza teatrów w Europie na dawnej pocztówce z kolekcji Janusza Deglera

Felicji Kruszewskiej przygoda z teatrem

Recenzja książki Doroty Jarząbek-Wasyl, Za kulisami. Narodziny przedstawienia w teatrze polskim w XIX wieku

Powojenny teatr w Polsce

Cztery noty o Witkacym

„Burzliwy i krańcowy protest przeciwko naturalizmowi Reduty”. Debiut reżyserski Edmunda Wiercińskiego

SPATIF Leona Schillera

Powojenne listy Leona Schillera

„Do nieba? Bluźnisz daremnie”. Faust – Marlowe – Grotowski

Pocztówki z piekła. Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz w Paryżu 1908

„Takie samo miejsce” dla „orłów i komarów Parnasu”, czyli jaki dramat (i jaki teatr dla tego dramatu) zaprojektowali nasi oświeceni

Listy Anieli Aszpergerowej do rodziny Młodnickich

Słowacki na uniwersytecie

Pamięć o dawnym teatrze

Aktor w rekonstrukcjach dramatu liturgicznego

Egzemplarz teatralny – między repertuarem a archiwum

Kantorowskie wynalazki. Między przedmiotem magicznym a maszyną