Calendar of Cultural Events

All programs are subject to change. Please verify dates and times with The Kosciuszko Foundation Director of Cultural Affairs
Tom Pniewski -- (212) 734-2130 ext. 214

"Helena, The Emigrant Queen"
Thursday, April 10
Nina Polan as Helena Modjeska

“Helena, The Emigrant Queen,” Kazimierz Braun’s one-woman play about famed Polish actress Helena Modjeska (Modrzejewska) will be performed (in English) by Nina Polan on Thursday, April 10, at 7 PM. Tickets are $20, including a reception after the performance. Tickets can also be obtained at www.poltheatreinst.com

“Helena” is set in Anaheim, Callifornia, as Helena Modjeska (1840-1909) looks back over her life as a famed interpreter of Schiller and Ibsen, among others, and the greatest female Shakespearean of her day. It is a retrospective featuring her triumphs and defeats, and her private life, in an extraordinary tour-de-force which deals simultaneously with Polish history of the times. Since she died 4 years later, one might say this was her final farewell.

Born in Poland, Nina Polan was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. After several seasons in West End and regional British and European productions, she came to America and played numerous Shakespearean and contemporary roles. This is the fourth time that she has portrayed the great Polish actress; since 1984 she has been Executive and Artistic Director of the Polish Theatre Institute.

Artistic Director Stuart Vaughan was Founding Artistic Director of the New York Shakespeare Festival, has directed over forty New York productions, and has served as guest director for regional theatres from coast to coast. Mr. Vaughan began in the theatre as an actor, and since joining Actor’s Equity in 1946, has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in stock, and in regional theatre
This production is partially funded by the New York State Council on the Arts.

About Helena Modjeska

Poland’s greatest actress of all time was Helena Modjeska (1844-1909) who came to Southern California in 1876 with her husband, Count Bozenta, and a small group of Polish friends including the future novelist and Nobel laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz. Their Polish agricultural colony in the little pioneer town of Anaheim was a financial failure, due to drought. Modjeska, however, learned some of her former roles in English and made a sensational stage debut in San Francisco in August 1877. Additional successes in eastern cities, including New York, helped launch a notable American career that lasted thirty years.

Life on the 19th century theatrical circuit, before the days of motion pictures and television, was strenuous and demanding. Modjeska and her company traveled for nine grueling months each year by railway, steamship, and carriage. She played not only in the great theaters of New York, but also in the makeshift halls and “opera houses” of rural America. Although she never lost her Polish accent, Modjeska became America’s most distinguished Shakespearean actress of the 1880's and 1890's. In 1883 she appeared in America’s first professional production of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House.” She was admired for her high artistic ideas and her positive influence on the American theater.

Throughout her career she made periodic return voyages to Poland for theatrical tours; the old city theater in her native Krakow is named in her honor.

From 1888 to 1909, Helena Modjeska was a much-loved resident of Orange County, California. After her death, the portion of Santiago Canyon where she lived was named Modjeska Canyon. Her residence, Arden, is now a national and state landmark, and is maintained as a memorial to her.

All events take place at the Foundation House, unless otherwise noted. Programs subject to change. Click here for directions.

Kosciuszko Foundation programs are supported by the Mary F. Koons Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Tadeusz Solowij Literary Fund, and the KF Cultural Fund.

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Nina Polan as Modjeska

Helena Modjeska
(1844-1909)