Ile szkód przynieść może zawodowy polski teatr. Tadeusz Czacki i Gimnazjum (Liceum) Wołyńskie w kręgu spraw teatralnych

The relations between one of the most important Polish schools of the 19th century, the Volhynian Gymnasium (Lyceum) at Krzemieniec, and the theatre—as a phemomenon and institution—were complex and ambiguous. On the one hand, the tradition and the idea of the Polish National Theatre, founded by King Stanislaw August, was appreciated and held in high regard. The idea, epitomised by Wojciech Bogusławski, “the father of the national stage,” stressed the significance the theatre had in maintaining the national identity after the partitions, under foreign (at Krzemieniec, Russian) domination. In literature classes, the Gymnasium students were introduced to dramas written by the Polish Enlightenment authors and were taught about the educational role of theatre. They also read the most outstanding foreign dramas, by Molière and Shakespeare. One of the students, Franciszek Kowalski, went on to become a respected translator of Molière’s. On the other hand, however, the school authorities, concerned about the morality of its students and reinforcing its educational autonomy, viewed the travelling companies of Polish actors that visited the town with great suspicion, which was in line with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s pedagogical ideas. This was also partly due to the fact that, although the companies were “children” of the National Theatre, they usually did not measure up to the Warsaw standard of artistic merit.