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PERCY MacKAYE

PERCY MacKAYE (1875 – 1956) 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 would participate. In 1901, he staged his play “The Canterbury Pilgrims” in a natural amphitheater overlooking Gloucester harbor. In all, over 1500 Gloucester residents participated in the play which was seen by 25,000 people, including President William Howard Taft. In 1923, at the celebration of Gloucester’s 300 th birthday, MacKaye read the 300 th Anniversary poem, an excerpt from his book-length, “The Skippers of the Nancy Gloucester.” MacKaye began teaching at Miami University in Ohio in 1920, and in 1932, his play “ Wakefield” was the first play entirely supported in development and production by the federal government. Dogtown Common, a book-length poem narrating an imagined romance between Judy Rhines and a minister named John Wharf opens with the excerpt reprinted below. A play based on Dogtown Common has been produced several times since 1987 by the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport, MA.

from: Dogtown Common ( New York: Macmillan ) 1921 .