The first Polish staging of Friedrich Wolff’s Cjankali (German: Cyankali, cyanide) in Łódź in 1930, with Leon Schiller as director, caused an outrage and violent protests. There were brawls in the audience; gas was sprayed and containers with a foul-smelling liquid were thrown. In Lublin, Cjankali was to be staged at the City Theatre, but following protests of right-wing pressure groups, the production was moved to the theatre in Jezuicka. This was the subject of a sneer by Ziemia Lubelska:
Exceedingly virtuous members of student fraternities and ever-so-pure nationalist-Catholic youth violently protested against the staging of Cjankali at the City Theatre. Never mind that they had little idea about the play […] – it was appropriate to make some noise. Several days later, Cjankali was performed at the Wiedza cinema – beyond the Krakowska Gate and … not one of these offended morality warriors squealed in protest. Did they believe that beyond the gate this too was fine and dandy?
