About 1754, Hetman Wacław Rzewuski, an active politician and writer, adapted the concert room on the second floor of his castle in Pidhirtsi to the needs of the theatre. The author of the decorations of the room and of the sets was painter Łukasz Smuglewicz, helped by his son Antoni, who later became a well-known decorator of the Narodowy Theatre. The repertoire, apart from French comedies, consisted of the hetman’s own plays: tragedies Żółkiewski and Władysław pod Warną (Władysław in the Battle of Warna), as well as comedies Natręt (Intruder)and Dziwak (Freak). The performers were professional actors brought to Pidhirtsi, as well Rzewuski’s own company. The contract of Jakub Słowacki, hetman’s servant and poet Juliusz’s grandfather, included ‘diligence […] in reciting tragedies and comedies’.

The performances stopped in 1767 when Russians kidnapped and deported Rzewuski, as an opponent of their politics. However, at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, historian Stanisław Windakiewicz was still able to see in Pidhirtsi the remains of the theatre decorations and machinery.[1]

[1] Janina Majerowa, ‘Wstęp’, [in:] Wacław Rzewuski, Tragedie i komedie, Warszawa 1962; Stanisław Windakiewicz, Teatr polski przed powstaniem sceny narodowej, Kraków 1921.

Literature:

1. Król-Kaczorowska B., Teatr Dawnej Polski. Budynki, dekoracje, kostiumy, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa 1971. 

2. Majerowa J., Wstęp, [w:] W. Rzewuski, Tragedie i komedie, Warszawa 1962.

3. Windakiewicz S., Teatr polski przed powstaniem sceny narodowej, Kraków 1921.

4. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, vol. 8 (ed. Filip Sulimierski, Bronisław Chlebowski, Władysław Walewski), Warszawa 1887.

5. Ostrowski J. K., Petrus J. T., Podhorce. Dzieje wnętrz pałacowych i galerii obrazów, Kraków 2001.

Author: Jarosław Komorowski