Gabriela Zapolska visited Lublin for the first time with her ensemble, which she conducted together with Stanisław Trapsza, to give several performances at the summer theatre in Niecała. The torrential downpours that July, beating against the tin roof, made it impossible for the actors to perform, and so the ensemble moved to the Jezuicka theatre and presented their programme of three short plays: Łapka na myszy [The Mouse Trap], Biała kamelia [The White Camellia], and Nie mów hop, aż przeskoczysz [It’s not over until it’s over]. Zapolska, who would go on to write the classic Moralność pani Dulskiej [The Morality of Mrs Dulska], delighted the audience not only with her thespian skills, but also “diligent proficiency”, thanks to which – what was much emphasised – she needed no prompter:
All evening long, the artists play with no prompter, but what is the use of a perfect memory if it is not accompanied by an equal Gabriela Zapolska wearing a stage costume, black and white photograph, ca. 1882, collection of the Museum of Kraków.measure of talent!
