Emilia Krakowska was only 23 years old and had just graduated from college when Adam Hanuszkiewicz, then director of the Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw, offered her the role of the bride in The Wedding. Soon after her debut, she heard that she was a “new commodity” in the theater and the boss’s pet. Only recently did she confess that Hanuszkiewicz’s behavior towards her could actually bear the signs of harassment, but then no one saw anything unusual in him.
Emilia Krakowska /German /AKPA
Emilia Krakowska: After graduation, she immediately caught the eye of the director of the theatre
In times when Emilia Krakowska was a novice actress, it was not surprising that directors (especially the most influential ones) promoted female graduates of theater schools who were just taking their first steps in the profession.
In the 60s of the last century, it was an open secret which actresses made a career “through the bed”, which actresses are ready for anything for the role and which “pay” the directors for their roles in the bedroom. Emilia Krakowska was definitely not one of them.
“I had a different idea for myself. I always knew when to say no” – Emilia Krakowska confessed to “Polityka”, recalling the years when she was one of Adam Hanuszkiewicz’s favourites.
Emilia Krakowska: A well-known director wanted to bully her. He failed!
Adam Hanuszkiewiczalthough he was known for his great weakness for pretty debutantes and had a reputation as a seducer, he did not immediately give Emilia Krakowska a chance. When she was finishing her studies, he was already a well-known actor and director, and in addition the director of the Powszechny Theater, and dozens of beautiful and talented candidates for stars sought his attention.
pet”beautiful Adaś“, because that’s how he was called, was then Zofia Kucówna. All of Warsaw knew that he was cheating on his wife, who – probably the only person in the city – had no idea about it. Emilia Krakowska dreamed of working for Hanuszkiewicz long before defending her diploma at the PWST in Warsaw.
The actress does not hide the fact that she applied to him herself, and for several months, on every occasion, she solicited him for a job at Powszechny. In the end, fortune smiled on her and Adam Hanuszkiewicz proposed her replacement for… Zofia Kucówna as the bride in “Wesele”.
“For seven years I played this “Wesele”. Back when Zosia couldn’t…” – she recalled in the book “Aktorica” by Katarzyna Kaczorowska.
Emilia Krakowska was aware that Hanuszkiewicz liked her and she had to be very careful not to give in to him. The director insisted on stripping her on stagewhich for her, then a young married woman, was unthinkable.
Even a small “romance” with the director was not even an option, although he sent very clear signals to the actress that … he could help her career. The interest shown by the artist, who was considered a god in the community at the time, was very flattering to Emilia, who was just making her debut, but she refused to allow Adam to undress or bizarre: “A man needs another man, but not everything has to end in bedding“, she said in an interview with “Polityka”.
Emilia Krakowska: The teacher crossed the line, but then it was not called harassment
Emilia Krakowska confessed that the problem of harassment in the theater is as old as … theater. The actress has many times witnessed reprehensible behavior by directors and directors.
“Theatre is not a democratic institution. It is a monarchy, an enlightened absolutism. We actors are people who dream of a good leader. The director is a god, the actor is an instrument in his hands“- she said in “Polityka”.
The actress does not hide that when she was young, she acted like a magnet on men. It happened that she was accosted on the street, and the proposals she received from strangers were rarely limited to drinking coffee together.
Harassment (although no one called it that then) Emilia Krakowska experienced it for the first time as a high school student. One of the tutors from the boarding school in Drezdenko, where she lived, showed his interest in her quite brusquely. As he passed an adolescent girl with long braids on the stairs, he slapped her ass!
“Today would be a scandal but then it was 1957. I could have turned around in anger after that slap, I could have been offended by him… And I was offended. I was silent in his lessons, even when he asked me. Everyone must find a way to defend themselves and their dignity. For me, this way was silence,” she recalled in an interview for “Polityka”.
See also:
Adam Hanuszkiewicz couldn’t love… without getting married!
Zofia Rysiówna stole her husband from another actress. She threatened to “chop the children with an ax” if he betrayed her
Stanisław Zaczyk was the husband of the first Miss Poland after the war. He broke down when she left him
Adam Hanuszkiewicz and all the women of his life!
Teresa Lipowska: what does she lack for happiness? “I don’t have a significant other”
Emilia Krakowska /German /AKPA
Adam Hanuszkiewicz /Wojcik /East News
Emilia Krakowska /Podlewski /AKPA
Sophia Kucowna /– /AKPA
Emilia Krakowska /German /AKPA
