In the first decades of the 20th century, the edifice often played host to Jewish theatres visiting Lublin. In May 1917, it welcomed an ensemble led by eminent actor and manager Ester Rachel Kamińska. The ensemble included Kamińska’s 18-year-old daughter Ida, who was then in the early days of her acting career. The ensemble staged original Jewish plays as well as Henrik Ibsen’s Nora in a Yiddish translation. Józef Dunkelblum wrote:
Ida Kamińska is a talent! And although representing such a complicated character requires diligent practice, intimate familiarity with the deepest intricacies of stagecraft, exceptional intelligence, and extraordinary artistic intuition, one is justified in claiming that Ida Kamińska has passed the test with flying colours, and that she has successfully carried the role, not allowing the burden to bend her young shoulders.
