Percy MacKaye
Percy MacKaye was an influential American playwright and poet, born on March 16, 1875, in New York City. Raised in a theatrical environment, he demonstrated literary talent early on, composing choral songs as a teenager for a major exposition. A Harvard graduate, MacKaye's career in playwriting began in earnest after he returned from studying abroad. His notable works include plays like "The Scarecrow" and "Anti-Matrimony," and he is recognized for his adaptations of medieval literature, particularly in the context of American theater. MacKaye's innovative contributions to drama included the creation of community-involved performances, or masques, that celebrated the democratic spirit of American culture and emphasized audience participation. His tetralogy inspired by Shakespeare's "Hamlet" also garnered critical acclaim. Throughout his life, he taught literature at various institutions and engaged deeply with themes of love, grief, and spirituality in his poetry. MacKaye remains a significant figure in the development of civic drama, as he sought to produce works that resonated with the American public and fostered a sense of community. He passed away on August 31, 1956, in Cornish, New Hampshire.
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Subject Terms
Percy MacKaye
Dramatist
- Born: March 16, 1875
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: August 31, 1956
- Place of death: Cornish, New Hampshire
Biography
Percy MacKaye was born on March 16, 1875, in New York City and raised in a theatrical household. He was the son of the famous actor and director James Steele MacKaye, and his mother, Mary Medbery, had adapted Pride and Prejudice for the stage. While still a teen, Percy was already showing signs of his precocious literary talent. He composed a series of choral songs for his father’s Spectatorium project intended for the Chicago Exposition of 1893.
In the late 1890’s, MacKaye attended Harvard College. While he was a junior there, he wrote a verse drama that was performed by students from Harvard and Wellesley. He graduated from Harvard University in 1897. Following graduation, he went abroad for two years before returning to New York in 1900 to teach in a private school and write plays.
On October 8, 1989, MacKaye married Marion Homer Morse; they had three children. MacKaye began teaching at Miami University in Ohio in 1920, and he later became professor of literature at Rollins College. He died on August 31, 1956, in Cornish, New Hampshire.
MacKaye was an avid medievalist, and his work reflects this preoccupation. His first success as a writer came in 1903 when E. H. Sothern accepted his The Canterbury Pilgrims: A Comedy. In 1904, MacKaye turned his full attention to playwriting. Among his many dramas, some of his most successful are The Scarecrow and Anti-Matrimony. He also completed a poetry collection, The Far Familiar, in 1937. In addition to his plays, MacKaye is the author of The Complete Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, an edition of the medieval poet’s œuvre.
Through his medieval adaptations, MacKaye’s most distinctive contribution to the art of theater was his extensive work in pageants and masques. His mythic masques unveiled the democratic spirit of American culture before the eyes of his audiences and involved their complete participation. Such community-participation uplifted drama to new levels in American culture. MacKaye also engaged the wisdom of the Native Americans as well as the folk culture of the early European settlers.
In keeping with the American spirit of democracy, MacKaye traveled widely and involved himself in many forms of literary expression. His poetry speaks of love, grief, and spiritual universality. One of MacKaye’s most crowning works was the tetralogy he wrote, in prologue to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. His “Mystery of Hamlet,” “King of Denmark,” and “What We Will” have met with considerable critical acclaim.
MacKaye was a prolific author of both poetry and plays whose goal was to create a poetic form of democratic drama for America. He wanted to produce plays that would be civic rites in which the audience could participate. Because of his achievements in these endeavors, MacKaye was highly acclaimed before the age of film and electronic media as the inspired leader of the civic drama. In 1932, his play Wakefield: A Folk-Masque of America was the first play entirely supported in development and production by the federal government. Whether in verse or prose, MacKaye’s works project a sense of rejuvenated nationalism that gains new vital importance today as people seek a more meaningful sense of community.