The Battle for Schiller and the Theatre in Lvov: Tymon Terlecki’s Press Publications of 1930–1931

Mariola Szydłowska (ed.)

Abstract

The articles republished now in Pamiętnik Teatralny first appeared in the Lvov Słowo Polskie in 1930–1931. They are reprinted here with an introduction discussing the historical context in which they were written. The texts belong to the early period of work of the outstanding theater scholar, Tymon Terlecki, and they at the same time shed light on a short yet important episode in the history of the Lvov stage that had to do with Leon Schiller. Even though the articles had been inspired by the editor-in-chief of Słowo Polskie, Wacław Mejbaum, they also revealed Terlecki’s own convictions and expressed his involvement in the so-called “battle for Schiller” [batalia o Schillera]. The issue was first to allow Stanisław Czapelski and Zygmunt Zaleski to take over the management of the municipal theaters, as they offered the position of artistic director of the Drama Department to Leon Schiller, and then to provide Schiller with the wherewithal to carry out his creative work, which meant mostly to make some organisational changes within the theaters. And finally, when Schiller had resigned and left Lvov, Terlecki carried on the battle so that the Municipal Council accept Wilam Horzyca as manager, which it did, thus enabling Schiller to come back. The articles reveal the polemical temperament of Tymon Terlecki, his early fascination with the work of Leon Schiller and the way in which their author contributed to the development of the stage in Lvov.