Maria Malicka – Portrait of a Friend
“…to read the phenomenon and beauty…”
Printed edition coming soon!!!
Maria Malicka – a stage actress for the ages. An artist of G. B. Shaw, Flers and Caillavet. But also of Friedrich Schiller and Stanisław Wyspiański. A diamond — or rather, a brilliant of the theatre. When she arrived in Warsaw in 1923, she was embraced by the city’s audiences from her very first role as Anna in Dawn, Day and Night.
Soon after, she won the hearts of theatre-goers across Poland. Dariusz Domański was a friend of the star, enchanted by her presence.
She would share with him her experiences from the world of theatre — a world that was her everything. This story of Maria Malicka’s life on stage is also a story of Polish theatre itself,
of Polish culture, of a bygone era — one might even say, a mythic time. In that mythology, the writer Jan Parandowski, who admired her craft,
might have envisioned her as a beautiful Aphrodite rising from the sea along the Greek coast… or perhaps as Athena — the goddess of theatrical wisdom. One Athenian correspondent, reporting on Polish theatre life, put it simply: The Polish Theatre — and the Divine Malicka.
Maria Malicka enjoyed playing cards — rummy and a game called “Thousand.” Once, during a conversation about theatre held over a card game, Kazimiera Szyszko-Bohusz asked her: “Marysia, do you remember when and where Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski made his debut?” Marysia paused, thought for a moment, and said: “I don’t remember… We’ll have to call Dareczek — he’ll know.”
I was always captivated by Maria Malicka’s voice — something heavenly about it. She would read me memoirs of actors, most often those of Jerzy Leszczyński. I remember one evening when she was tired, and I still asked her to read me one more chapter. She looked at me, smiled, and said: “You’re shameless, Dareczek…” I took it as a compliment.
The highest-paid stage actress of the interwar period.
She dictated her terms to theatre directors — as recalled by Dr. Arnold Szyfman, one of the most prominent theatrical directors of the time:
“That little brat always demands the highest artistic and financial terms — and what can I do? I have to give in…”
It was Malicka who inspired duels — not just among counts — and was painted by the greatest artists: Kossak and Witkacy.
She was celebrated in reviews by Boy-Żeleński, Lechoń, and Wierzyński, and ranked in public polls alongside Marie Curie and Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
At her name day celebrations — at midnight, no less — came none other than Warsaw’s President Stefan Starzyński and his wife.
She survived a serious accident.
She played some roles hundreds of times — and one over 2,000 times.
A true titan of the stage.
She starred in Dangerous Paradise (Niebezpieczny raj), a film made for the American studio Paramount.
In 1924, she was even kidnapped by a rival theatre company.
After the premiere of Shaw’s Saint Joan, she received a personal note from the great playwright, praising her beauty and talent.
And it all began in Young Poland Kraków, when Ludwik Solski led her by the hand onto the stage to recite a poem before a performance of Kościuszko at Racławice in 1905 — the very year the legendary Zielony Balonik Cabaret was born.
Later, under Lucjan Rydel, she soared beneath the dome of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, playing the Angel in his Polish Bethlehem.
In 1918, at a defining moment in Poland’s rebirth, she performed in The Wedding and Liberation — giving voice to a nation awakening from captivity.
All of this can be found in the book, which features a conversation with Maria Malicka — considered by critics to be the greatest Polish actress across five historical eras, alongside Helena Modrzejewska and Stanisława Wysocka.
M. Malicka (Maria) in Mary Stuart by F. Schiller,
directed by K. Borowski, National Theatre,
Warsaw, 1934.
M. Malicka (The Bride) and J. Leszczyński (The Groom) in The Wedding by S. Wyspiański,
directed by L. Solski, National Theatre, Warsaw, 1932.
M. Malicka (Anna Lili Nils) in And What to Do with Such a One by R. Niewiarowicz, Malicka Theatre, Warsaw, 1935.
It was in 1926, before her marriage to Sawan. Malicka was in Zakopane with her mother. Known as a woman of principle and a graduate of the Sisters of the Presentation School in Kraków, she was strolling along Krupówki Street when she passed by Kornel Makuszyński, who was walking with Witkacy. Makuszyński glanced at Malicka and said to Witkacy, “Look, Staś, the only virgin actress in Poland…”
When Maria Malicka told me this story, she smiled and said,
“But how did Makuszyński know that?”
Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, 1934 r.
„Ms. Malicka played and spoke her Maria enchantingly: she felt most at ease in the scenes where Schiller had sweetened his queen — but there were moments when tiny claws grew at the wings of that angel…”.
„Malicka was granted a well-earned leave from her own theater. To perform five hundred times, day after day, without a break — it’s no less than swimming across the English Channel. Our theatrical Miss Ederle accomplished it without harm to her health or to her art. Gathered at the shore, we welcome the record-breaker with loud applause, ready to offer her tea from a thermos, wrap her in blankets, warm her with our breath — let her rest…”.
Kazimierz Wierzyński, 1936 r.
Jan Kott, 1957 r.
„On an empty stage, Malicka appears. She has a diction long forgotten in Polish theatre.
Every consonant is heard clearly, each word flutters like a bird.
Her gestures are utterly natural. She is a romantic Muse and a Young Poland-style coquette. Above all, she is a great actress. Malicka sets the tone for the entire performance…”.
„…I remember Malicka from 1930, when she came to Poznań with Aleksander Węgierko,
and they were already a well-known theatrical couple. And yet… what I saw at the Bagatela Theatre was not just an excellent actress, but a young woman who shone with such brilliance that she outshone her fellow actors. On stage, there was only Her!”
Jerzy Waldorff, 1974 r.
Dariusz Domański 2024 r.
Four opinions about MARIA MALICKA – each revealing and from different periods of her acting career. In 1934, she was a star of the National Theatre in Warsaw; in 1936, she ran her own theatre, which relied mainly on her individual acting talent; in 1957, she radiated with brilliance at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków; and in 1974, she was part of the Bagatela Theatre ensemble. What was the secret of Malicka’s power on stage? What was it about her that moved audiences so deeply just by watching her?
That is the mystery of theatre – its magic and its truth…
*Materiały zamieszczone na stronie internetowej pochodzą z cyklu wydawniczego „Portrety Przyjaciół” autorstwa Dariusza Domańskiego i zostały wykorzystane za zgodą autora.