The 1687 Polish Premiere of «Le Bourgeois gentilhomme»
Julian Lewański
Institute of Literary Research, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
Abstract
This article discusses the Polish staging of Molière’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme in 1687. The author includes and describes in detail the program of this performance, found in the collection of the Ossolineum Library in Wrocław, which includes a synopsis of the play in Polish. He also reconstructs the circumstances of the event, concluding from the program that the performance took place in Rydzyna (Greater Poland region), in the palace of Rafał Leszczyński. He puts forth several hypotheses that require further research. The performance in Rydzyna may have been prepared by the royal court theatre or an amateur theater. The author supposes that it was organized upon Leszczyński’s own initiative. The Polish aristocrat was not only well familiar with France and its culture, but also regularly exchanged letters with Louis XIV, who considered him one of the most eminent politicians in Poland. It is worth noting that the Polish staging of Molière’s play was among the first in Europe.
Keywords:
French drama in Poland, Old Polish theater, theater documentation, Molière, reception of Molière , theater in Poland 1600-1700References
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Authors
Julian LewańskiInstitute of Literary Research, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
Julian Lewański (1915–2003) – Professor of literature and theater. The most distinguished scholar in the field of Old Polish drama and theater, author of fundamental studies of scenes of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque. He edited several anthologies of carefully annotated editions of Old Polish drama and Polish religious drama.
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Copyright (c) 1956 Julian Lewański
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