Laura Pytlińska and the Actor's Craft of Her Time

Abstract

The article is concerned with an actress who unjustly remained in the shadow of great actresses of the Young Poland period.

Laura Pytlińska, as it is she who the article is about, was the youngest daughter of Maria and Jarosław Konopnickis. She was born in Bronowo in 1872. Her mother brought her and her five siblings up alone. From the moment she parted with her husband and moved to Warsaw she struggled hard to secure a better future for her children than she herself experienced.

The actress was an unusual person, and a fascinating personality in the history of the Polish theatre, although she has been neglected by researchers dealing with the domain of art to which she devoted herself without reservations. She started as an amateur in one of the two companies of the Society of Drama Lovers in Warsaw directed by Marian Gawalewicz. Her real début took part in the Lvov theatre on 21 September 1905, where owing to Tadeusz Pawlikowski she acted in Warszawianka under the pseudonym of Maria Zawiejska, as a replacement for the absent H. Modrzejewska, and then I. Solska and W. Siemaszkowa. After the Lvov period she moved to Cracow. In the Juliusz Słowacki City Theatre for the first time she appeared on 8 May 1911 in the same role, and then she stayed in the company until 1916. She spent the season 1917/1918 in the Polish Theatre in Warsaw and the year 1918 in the Variety Theatre. She worked in the Praga Theatre in 1920/21 and in the Mask Theatre in 1921/22. The stage of the City Theatre in Łódź where she spent the season 1923/24 was the last part of her theatrical career.

Laura belonged to the company in which there were outstanding actors. She replaced well-known and loved actresses, which undoubtedly put her in a disadvantageous situation. However, owing to her great talent, intelligence and naturalness she gained the favor of many audiences. She proved her versatility by appearing in various dramas and playing both well-known and untypical roles.