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The Independence Day was one of the most important state holidays in the Second Polish Republic. The celebration of the tenth anniversary of regaining independence in 1928 was preceded with special preparations; it is then that "Przegląd Oświatowy" published a list of suggested celebration scenarios which included not only holy masses, lectures, and public speeches but also spectacles with tableaux vivants. The proposition, by prescribing the way to celebrate, did not work too well in schools, and in grammar schools in particular. The article discusses other propositions for spectacles suggested at the time that were better suited for younger children, as they often took on the form of a fairy tale. The convention made it easier for the seven- or eight-year-old viewers to understand the difficult issues of national subjugation, fight for freedom and independence.

The letters written by Felicja Trapszo-Krywultówna to Leonia Jabłonkówna published here come from the archive ‘The correspondence and documents of artistic work of Leonia Jabłonkówna’ which is part of the Special Collections of the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Felicja Krywultówna, born in 1905, was an actress coming from the well known actor family of Trapszo. She performed in Wilno, Grodno, Łódź, and Kraków. She died of tuberculosis in 1937. Leonia Jabłonkówna, born in 1905, studied art history and Polish philology at the University of Warsaw; she wrote articles about art for Bluszcz and a column about film for Wiadomości Literackie; in the 1930s she studied at the Directing Art Department of the PIST (State Institute of Theatre Art) in Warsaw. The letters published here date from 1930–1936; they bring biographical information about the two correspondents, news about theatres in Grodno, Kraków, and Częstochowa, about theatre management and companies, about the repertories. They paint a picture of the theatrical community of the 1930s.

The article examines the professional consequences of artistic encounters with Luigi Pirandello's plays in case of Polish actors and/or directors (Wojciech Brydziński, Aleksander Węgierko, Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski, theatre managers (Teofil Trzciński) and translators of his plays (Zofia Jachimecka). The text focuses on the performances made by the theatres in Krakow (and Warsaw) in the 1920s and 1930s. The analysis demonstrates that participating in those artistic events turned out to be a very positive artistic experience and in some cases it can be even considered fundamental for the further professional carrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]