Molière w teatrach warszawskich (1870–1919)
Molière in Warsaw Theatres (1870–1919)

A Reconnaissance

Summary/Abstract: The last quarter of the 19th century opens up a new era in Molière’s reception in Polish theatre, whereby the playwright’s authentic style and the aesthetic of his time start to be treated with respect. Actors of three generations, from Rychter and Rapacki to Zelwerowicz and Jaracz, compete with each other, time after time dusting off their famous roles, rendered in new translations. In accord with their predispositions and acquired acting techniques they demonstrate a wide range of stylistic qualities in their interpretations of the classic Tartuffe and Harpagon, from out-dated grotesque, through genre realism, to... instinctive search for a living and breathing person beneath the letter of the text while balancing, with mixed results, on the thin line dividing comedy from tragedy. Frenkiel’s roles, including his Argan in the farcical Chory z urojenia (‘The Imaginary Invalid’), are a fortunate marriage of modern acting techniques and Molièrean tradition. The first translator who—in accordance with a new translating norm—rejected the widespread practice of Polonising the French author was Kazimierz Zalewski. But a real breakthrough for the reception of Molière in Poland (including Warsaw) came with the 1912 edition of translations prepared by Tadeusz Żeleński (Boy), which brought about a new generation of Molièrists. While debuting both at a Molière night in the just-opened Polski Theatre, Zelwerowicz and Jaracz—who will be searching for the spirit of the seventeenth-century theatre—inaugurate a truly new era in the history of Polish Molière, an era that will bear fruit in the interwar period.

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