Percy MacKaye

Born in New York City on March 16, 1875, Percy MacKaye grew up in a deeply theatrical household: his father was the actor and playwright Steele MacKaye. He studied at Harvard, spent time in Europe including study at the University of Leipzig, and later became associated with the Cornish, New Hampshire, artists' colony.

MacKaye is remembered as an American dramatist and poet who pushed theater beyond the conventional stage. Reference works describe him as an important figure in the development of the American pageant, drawing on historical subjects and folk material in plays such as The Canterbury Pilgrims, Jeanne d'Arc, and The Scarecrow. His interest in civic and community performance gave his writing a public, large-scale energy that set him apart from many of his contemporaries.

He died in Cornish, New Hampshire, on August 31, 1956. Today he is often valued both for his literary ambition and for his belief that drama could be a shared social art, not just private entertainment.