Theatre
Małżeństwo z kalendarza
Not translated into English
Franciszek Bohomolec · 1766
Synopsis
Staruszkiewicz, a country gentleman attached to the old ways who arranges everything by his almanac, wants to marry his daughter Eliza to Marnotrawski, a nobleman with a fine name, riddled with debts and a smooth talker. Eliza loves Ernest, a German officer serving in the Polish army, but her father wants only a Polish son-in-law and insists on holding the wedding that very day, which the calendar declares auspicious. His sister, Mrs Bywalska, and the servants try to open his eyes.
Context
Written, according to the critic Rafał Węgrzyniak, at the instigation of King Stanisław August, the comedy premiered at the National Theatre in Warsaw on 4 March 1766. It brings to the stage questions debated in the Monitor: the role of foreign specialists in the country's recovery, the foreign-born burghers who invest their capital there, religious tolerance, the rise of the third estate. Long neglected by the theatres, it was adapted for radio in 1955, 1976 and 2017, then restaged in Radom in 2024.
Who it is for
A short comedy, easy to follow; what it says about foreigners and the nobility needs a little context. No French translation.
Prizes and reception
Usually regarded as its author's best comedy, and chosen by Zbigniew Raszewski among the major plays of the Polish repertoire.
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