The Vilna Troupe was instantly made notorious by its staging of "The Deluge", a work by Swedish-born dramatist Henning Berger, which was positively reviewed by the prominent literary magazine "Rampa". "The Deluge" was a headliner by the company, until it was replaced by Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths" (August 1924) The artistic praise did not pay the bills, and touring elsewhere in Romania only made the financial picture worse. According to modernist author Mihail Sebastian, the actors' commitment and the quality of the shows contrasted heavily with the venues they were touring. Sebastian referred to one of the latter as "once destined for Jewish pornography", and recounted how news of the Vilna Troupe "miracle" had spread by word of mouth. The situation was aggravated when the actors had to take a break from performing at the Jigniţa, following the death of its female owner, Sofia Lieblich. During that period, several actors left their temporary home in Romania, most of them settling in the United States.