String-tied album – in a box with a side opening – with photos from the stage performance of Bieg do Fragalà [Running to Fragalà] directed by Jakub Rotbaum.
The box is adorned with strips of brown paper attached to each side. Glued to the centre top part is a black-and-white photo of the poster promoting the preview performance on 1 May 1953 (the original poster also forms part of the collection).
The album is bound in a stiff brown cover, tied with a string on the spine. It comprises 49 dark brown sheets. Text on the cover:
RUNNING TO FRAGALÀ | STATE DRAMA THEATRES IN WROCŁAW
On fol. 1r, a dedication written in white pencil:
To Julian Stryjkowski | the author of | ‘Running to Fragala’ | producers of the adaptation of his beautiful novel | and the team of the State Drama Theatre | in Wrocław || Wrocław, 1 May 1953.
On fol. 2r, another photo of the poster (slightly different than on the box). On fol. 3r, two photos, attached to the page with glue by their upper edge: portraits of Stryjkowski and Rotbaum (16.5 × 12.3 cm) with captions in the form of strips with photographic copies of text (photographed text from the poster).
Attached to the subsequent pages are photos (17.2 × 23 cm) from the stage performance with captions (photos of text) – 46 photos in total, one photo per sheet, on one side of each.
Like the portraits, the performance photos are glued to the sheets by their upper edges. Each photo from the group has a stamp on the reverse:
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED BY THE ZAIKS [SOCIETY OF AUTHORS]
LES DROITS D'AUTEUR RÉSERVÉ
Reproduction allowed provided that:
1) the author is named,
2) the contractually agreed fee is paid.
If the fee is not stipulated in the contract, the ZAIKS tariffs apply.
AUTHOR: Mozer Zdzisław, Wrocław. Year 1953 [the digit 3 is handwritten]
In the bottom right of the sheet with the last photo and caption, there is additional text (photo of white text on black background) reading:
Photo by Z. Mozer | Wrocław
Total number of photos in the album: 49, including the photo on the box: 50.
The theatre where the play was staged underwent three name changes (operating as the Municipal Theatre in September 1945 and as the Lower Silesian Theatre in 1946–1948). In 1948, it became part of an institution called Lower Silesian Theatres, renamed to Drama Theatres in 1949 – this is the name given in the album. In April 1969, it formally started to operate as the Polish Theatre, although the name had been in use since 1953, as evidenced by the text in the photographed posters (for a broader discussion of the theatre’s name, see https://encyklopediateatru.pl/teatry-i-zespoly/1442/teatr-polski [Polish only]).
The photos from the album were published in a special edition of the stage adaptation of the novel:
Bieg do Fragalà. Sztuka w 3 aktach według powieści Juliana Stryjkowskiego [Running to Fragalà. Play in Three Acts Based on Julian Stryjkowski’s Novel], adapted for the stage by Jakub Rotbaum and Sylwia Iwen, afterword by J. Stryjkowski, stage directions and editing by J. Rotbaum, photos by Zdzisław Mozer, Czytelnik, Warszawa 1954, series: Biblioteka Świetlicowa „Czytelnika”, 149 pages, including photo reproductions and musical notation.
Due to copyright restrictions, we are only able to publish selected reproductions of the item in our on-line catalogue.
