Korespondencja Edmunda Wiercińskiego z Teresą Roszkowską 1950–1952
The Correspondence Between Edmund Wierciński and Teresa Roszkowska, 1950–1952

“In This Horrible Wrocław”

Summary/Abstract: The painter and stage designer Teresa Roszkowska (1904–1992) and the actor and director Edmund Wierciński (1899–1955) had known each other for more than twenty years. Roszkowska designed the sets for seven productions directed by Wierciński, and the productions on which he collaborated with her were some of the best in his work. They first met at the PIST (State Institute of Theatre Art) in Warsaw, where she studied at the Directing Art Department and he lectured. They started collaborating in the 1938/39 season already. At the Polski Theatre in Warsaw, Wierciński directed Obrona Ksantypy (‘The Apology of Xanthippe’) by Morstin with the set designed by Roszkowska (prem. 10 Feb. 1939). During the German occupation of Poland, their friendship grew stronger. They both sat on the Secret Theatre Committee. One of the topics discussed there was Electra by Giraudoux in the translation by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. And Electra became the first play directed by Wierciński after the war, with Roszkowska as stage designer, at the Scena Poetycka by the Wojska Polskiego Theatre in Łódź (prem. 16 Feb. 1946). In the season of 1947/48, the duo put on two plays at the Polski Theatre in Warsaw: Cyd (Le Cid) by Corneille in Wyspiański’s translation (prem. 8 Jan. 1948) and Fantazy by Słowacki (prem. 10 July 1948). In the summer of 1949, Wierciński found employment at the Dramatic Theatres in Wrocław, where he spent three seasons. The letters published here come from this period of time. In Wrocław, the director put on Shakespeare’s As You Like It with the stage set by Roszkowska (prem. 3 March 1951). The letters contain information about this production. Wierciński did not feel well in Wrocław; he did not like the city, nor did he like the theatre. He gave serious consideration to every work proposal from the capital (an offer by Erwin Axer of the Współczesny Theatre, and one from the Narodowy Theatre in the event that Jan Kreczmar became its manager). He wrote about it to Roszkowska, and she urged him to come back to Warsaw at all costs. Finally, Wierciński found employment at the Polski Theatre, starting in July 1952. This was where he directed his last two productions, both of them with Roszkowska as stage designer: Horsztyński by Słowacki (prem. 3 Oct. 1953) and Lorenzaccio by Musset (Polish premiere 25 June 1955). Wierciński and Roszkowska were a creative and well-working duo. They understood each other perfectly and were loyal to each other. They created comprehensive compositions on stage without losing sight of detail. The letters by Teresa Roszkowska are now part of the Wiercińskis’ Archive in the Special Collections of the Institute of Art at the Polish Academy of Sciences, No. 1209/8. The letters by Edmund Wierciński are kept at the Pracownia Historii Szkolnictwa Teatralnego (Laboratory of Research into the History of Theatre Education) of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, where the addressee deposited them.

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