I've been doing some research into Polish history and thought others may be interested.
This is from our introduction to The Comedienne by Wladyslav Reymont.
"After the 1863 uprising, Warsaw began to experience tumultuous economic growth that filled the city with great numbers of emancipated peasants, ruined gentry and Jews from throughout Russia and Poland. In the period from 1865 to 1909 the population of Warsaw rose from 244,000 to 764,000, its Jewish portion from 77,000 to 282,000. The masses sought work,... but in their free hours sought inexpensive entertainment. Beginning in 1868 and continuing for some forty years thereafter, on warm summer evenings these crowds flooded the streets and frequented a new form of entertainment, the garden theatres, located in the courtyards of restaurants and cafes.
By 1876, there were twenty such theatres in Warsaw; in the years following, as many as thirty. At first, their audience consisted primarily of artisans and their families. Soon, however, they began to a more upscale audience as well. Seating began to reflect class divisions, with wealthier patrons in armchairs and the poorer clientele standing behind wooden barriers. Plays which premiered in the State Theatres were revived in the gardens and occasionally a popular garden hit made to the State. Still most of the garden theatre repertoire continued to consist of farce, operetta and cancan. As the press decried the “immorality” of the garden theatres, its stars, like those of the State Theatre, became the object of public fascination."
Here's a nice piece of reportage by Henryk Sienkiewicz around 1880 about the theatres in Warsaw
"These theatres are peculiarly enticing and seductive to our public. How much freedom there is in all this and how colourful! Theatre and bazaar, dreams and cigarettes, scenic enchantment and starry night overhead-what contradictory elements. In the chairs, patrons with hats pushed to the back of their heads; behind the barrier, the public, artless, impetuous, fascinated, constantly calling: “Louder! Louder!” at interesting moments not stirring from their places even in a downpour, prone to applause and impatient. Finally, what a mixture! Young gentlemen who have come expressly for the radiant eyes of Miss Czesia (a contemporary heartthrob). They converse of course in French, while Prince Lolo, unrivalled in the realm of chic, wipes his opera glasses, and the “divine” Comte Joujou grasps one leg and crosses it over the other, thereby permitting the rabble to marvel at his genuine fil d’Ecosse stockings; then several gentry of the bronze faced and serene glance “my-dear-sir” each other about the price of wool instead of the play, crops instead of actors. Further, a group of counting-house clerks in collars which can only be seen in the Journal Amusant converse softly, and only occasionally can one overhear in the ‘national language’ the phrases; “zewu zasiur, Michasz” or “antrnusuadi, Staszu!”1 Behind the barrier one hears the dialect of Franciszkaner Gasse.2 There too ladies of the demi-monde swish their dresses, and chattering, dart flashing looks from darkly painted eyes. Elsewhere several artisans argue with a Jew about a spot near a pillar; overhead the leaves of trees rustle, from the snack bar threatening exhortations; in a word: a mixture of voices, languages, social classes, manners, moods, a veritable Tower of Babel of people linked only by the hope of relaxation, freedom and entertainment.
1 A parody of polonized French:“Je vouse assure,” “Entre nous soit dit.” (“I assure you, Michael”, “Between you and me, Stan”)
2 Germanizing or yiddishizing the name “Franciszkanska” a main street in the Jewish quarter, to drive home the point"
You can see the more of the book at our website at ww w.onesuchbooks.com
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