A hundred years of research on the 18th‑century theatre in Poland and France

Among the modern researchers conducting studies on the 18th century, there is a widespread belief that research on Polish theatre of that era did not develop until the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. It is only part of the truth. The apogee of theatrical research coincided with those years, resulting from the 200th anniversary of the National Theatre, which was widely promoted by the authorities. However, the first diagnoses of Polish theatre scientists dealing with the 18th century are much earlier. Suffice it to recall Ludwik Bernacki’s monumental work, “Theatre, Drama and Music under Stanislaw August”, which the researcher published in Lviv in 1925. Bernacki’s research was closely related to the work of French theatre scientists, who conducted research on the scene and drama of the 18th century before the First World War. This article analyses and chronologically presents the last century of theatrical research and its methodological changes on the example of Polish and French history of 18th-century theatre.